What to Know
- NY State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb was arrested for DWI on New Year's Eve
- Kolb issued a statement taking full responsibility
- Less than two weeks prior, Kolb published a column warning about holiday DWIs and saying there was "no excuse"
One of New York's top Republican leaders was arrested for DWI on New Year's Eve -- days after writing a column warning of the dangers of driving drunk at the holidays.
Brian Kolb, the minority leader in the New York State Assembly, was arrested late Tuesday night after a car crash in the upstate town of Victor. He faces charges of driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit, according to a news release from the Ontario County Sheriff's Office.
"This was a terrible lapse in judgment, one I have urged others not to make, and I take full responsibility for it," Kolb said in a statement obtained by Rochester NBC affiliate WHEC.
Kolb has 20 years in the Assembly and has been minority leader for more than 10 years.
On Dec. 20, he posted a weekly column on his Assembly website entitled "Drive Safe This Holiday Season." That column includes the line "There is no excuse for impaired driving."
Kolb, 67, is scheduled to appear in court at a later date on the charges.
