QUEENS — An on-duty sanitation worker was arrested for driving drunk after he plowed his salt spreader into an occupied parked car in South Jamaica early Wednesday morning, police said.
Dewayne Ruddock, 33, was slurring his words and smelled of booze when police arrived after he crashed into the parked car at Rockaway Boulevard near 132nd Avenue about 12:30 a.m., police said.
Ruddock's blood alcohol level was .148 percent, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 percent, according to a breathalyzer test administered at the 113th Precinct stationhouse, an NYPD spokesman said.
Ruddock was on duty at the time of the crash, putting down salt for a snow storm that had been predicted to drop as much as an inch on the city, police said.
The car he hit had at least one person inside at the time of the crash, but that person was not injured, police said.
Ruddock, a seven-year veteran of the department, was arrested on charges of driving while ability impaired, a step down from driving while intoxicated, police said.
A DWAI charge is usually given to those with blood alcohol levels between .05 and .07 percent, according to the DMV's website.
A DWI charge is usually given to those with .08 percent or higher.
A police spokesman referred questions to the Queens District Attorney's office. A spokeswoman there did not know the reason for the police charges.
The Department of Sanitation said Ruddock was suspended following the arrest.
