Pembroke & Rochester, N.Y. - A Rochester-area attorney is facing several charges after allegedly driving drunk on the
Thruway with a woman who told police she is paid to have sex with that attorney.
State police say James Doyle, 54, was arrested early Monday morning at the Pembroke Rest Area on the NY State Thruway.The arresting trooper states in court documents obtained by 13WHAM News that Doyle was "slumped over the steering wheel passed out."
Doyle denies all of these allegations, he calls the 20 year-old woman he was with at the time of his arrest a "family friend," and he said he was using the rest stop for its proper purpose; to rest.
"There was a lateness to the hour, I did want to get a little bit of rest before I completed the journey and I stopped at the rest stop for that purpose," Doyle said in an interview with 13WHAM News on Monday. "That is where you're supposed to stop."
Erratic Driving Reported
A tractor trailer driver signed paperwork that states that around midnight he witnessed a car he later identified as Doyle's driving erratically in the Eastbound lanes of the Thruway.
"I saw the gray looking car was swerving from lane to lane without signalling and driving about 40 mph," the driver's statement to police reads. "He narrowly missed hitting another truck. I called the Thruway Authority and reported the erratic driver."
Doyle denies ever driving erratically and he showed 13WHAM News a Thruway toll ticket that shows he entered the highway at 11:45 p.m. in Williamsville. He states that this supports his timeline of being tired and stopping to rest in Pembroke.
"The police were tapping on the window of my parked vehicle at the rest stop where I was resting about 45-minutes later," Doyle said.
Trooper Encounters Doyle At Rest Stop
According to court paperwork around 12:30 a.m. Monday the arresting officer "observed a female in the passenger seat slumped over" and that Doyle exhibited "slurred speech, watery/bloodshot eyes and strong odor of beverage alcohol on his breath."
The trooper states that the vehicle was still running and the lights were on when he approached it.