A 29-year-old Queens man is facing drunken driving charges after authorities say that he drove the wrong direction in the Holland Tunnel, then evaded police who tried to stop him.
The driver faces charges of DWI, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and fleeing a police officer in connection with the traffic incident early on Tuesday, Port Authority police say.
Authorities allege the driver entered the south tube of the tunnel on the Manhattan side and went the wrong way. He continued down the tunnel, which wasn't carrying traffic at the time because of maintenance, for about a quarter-mile before being blocked off by a maintenance vehicle, police said.
The man allegedly turned the car around and drove back into Manhattan, then refused to stop for a patrol car that was waiting for the vehicle outside the exit.
His vehicle came to a stop at the traffic rotary around St. John's Park, but it allegedly took off when officers approached. He drove around a pair of marked NYPD barriers and continued into lower Manhattan before finally being stopped by cops at Varick and Laight streets.
Authorities allege that the driver's speech was slurred after he was stopped. They also noted his eyes were bloodshot and that he smelled like he had been drinking. He refused to take a breathalyzer test, authorities say.
