Date: Fri 10-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Varese-drunk-driving

Full Text:

Varese Escapes License Suspension Due To Flaw In Police Report

HARTFORD (AP) -- A state lawmaker charged with drunken driving has avoided

having his license suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles as a result

of flaws in the police report on his arrest.

The police report on the arrest of State Rep William Varese, R-112th, who

represents the southeast portion of Newtown, failed to include the time when

Varese allegedly struck five cars outside a Bridgeport strip club March 9 and

was then stopped by police.

Varese was charged with driving while intoxicated and evading responsibility

in the incident. Court records show his blood-alcohol level was 0.167. The

state's blood-alcohol limit is 0.10.

State law requires blood-alcohol tests to be taken within two hours of an

alleged drunken driving accident.

Varese succeeded in avoiding a 90-day administrative suspension of his license

by the DMV by citing problems with the police report, his attorney, Edward

Gavin of Bridgeport, confirmed last week.

"He just asked to be treated like any other citizen of the state of

Connecticut," said Gavin, who represented the lawmaker before a DMV hearing

officer.

Varese faces a May 18 arraignment on the drunken driving charges.

The legislator, who is also an attorney, has expressed remorse about the

incident but has not said how he will respond to the charges.

Though Varese was convicted last year of driving while impaired, a judge could

still allow him to enter a pretrial alcohol-education program, which would

enable him to have the charges erased.

But if he is convicted of drunken driving, he would lose his license for a

year.