Darien, N.Y. - Deputies said a man crashed his car early Sunday morning, just three hours after he was arrested on drunk driving charges.
Deputies arrested Jeffrey Russell Hamill, 34, of Attica for DWI and speeding after a traffic stop in Pembroke shortly after 1:30 a.m.
After he was released from jail and driven home by a friend, deputies said he allegedly drove drunk on Route 238 in Pembroke. His car slid off the road and went down a ravine and hit a tree. He suffered serious head injuries in the crash.
Hamill was airlifted to Strong Hospital. He is in Satisfactory Condition.
Genesee County Sheriffs Deputies said Hamill will face additional charges of driving while intoxicated. They also said the friend who drove him home, could also face charges.
While cases like this are unusual, they have happened.
Lawyer Ed Fiandach said he has had a few cases where clients have been charged with DWI twice on the same day.
First-time DWI offenders are generally not put in jail unless they injure someone, refuse a breath test or have other convictions.
Deputy Chief Gordon Dibble said his department doesn't have the resources to put every DWI offender in jail. He said if cases like this were more prevalent, the department would have to re-think its policy, but feels for now jailing first time DWI offenders isn't warranted.
Fiandach said it doesn't make sense to lock up everyone charged with DWI. He said it would take police officers off of the road, and tie up other resources.
Fiandach said DWI laws are tougher now, so if someone is charged twice within the same day, they will suffer the consequences. In this case he said: "He'll probably wind up with two convictions and he'll have problems, because the accident involved personal injury."
