Tower Down - 09.15.22 (NY) "Updated 09.14.23"

[TowForce]

Driver with 4 prior convictions, no license was drunk when he killed man on Northway, troopers say

 

Justin P. Rodriguez, 41, charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and traffic offenses in Thursday-night crash that killed tow truck operator

 

WILTON — A driver with a record of drunken driving and a permanently revoked license has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and traffic offenses after his vehicle went off the Northway and struck and killed a tow truck operator who was preparing to pull a disabled truck off the shoulder, State Police said.

 

Alex W. Bleickhardt, 33, of Pottersville died at the scene of the crash near Exit 15.  Justin P. Rodriguez, 41, of Moreau was taken into custody after the 10:41 p.m. crash on the northbound side of the highway, troopers said. Rodriquez's car also hit Bleickhardt's tow truck and the disabled box truck he was preparing to tow.

 

Troopers said Rodriguez's car left one of the highway lanes and crashed on the shoulder. It appears the driver of the box truck had already left the scene when the crash occurred.

 

Troopers said Rodriguez had four prior driving while intoxicated convictions. The first two convictions took place in 2005 and 2015 in Washington County, troopers said. The third and fourth convictions occurred in 2017 in Saratoga County where Rodriguez's license was permanently revoked. Thursday night's crash appears to be the first one to cause serious injury to another person.

 

Rodriguez needed to be removed from his damaged vehicle. He was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. He was arraigned in town court and then taken to the Saratoga County jail on Friday. He was being held without bail.

 

The top charge Rodriguez faces, first-degree manslaughter, carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

 

Rescuers closed the northbound side of the highway for several hours. Troopers left the scene after 5 a.m.

 

Bleickhardt had worked as a truck driver but went to work for TowAway LLC about five years ago, company President William Hafner said. The job meant he could be close to home.

 

Hafner said the company's 23 employees, who work out of locations in Saratoga Springs and Hudson Falls, are close.

Bleickhardt's death "hit everyone pretty hard here," he said.

 

 

“Alex was very well-natured," Hafner said. "Loved his dog; his dog was his life. ... It was a package deal when you hired him."

 

Hafner said the dog, a pit bull named Moose, became a mascot for the business. Someone brought him to the shop Friday.

 

“Customers loved him," Hafner said of Bleickhardt. "He was a little bit of a mountain man but really brought the people in. ... He could relate to anyone. He really wanted to help.”

 

Hafner reiterated the roadside safety mantra "slow down, move over": Drivers should be cautious around disabled vehicles.

 

But a driver with a record like Rodriguez, he noted, "shouldn’t have been on the road.”

 

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[TowZone]

UPDATED: Accused drunken driver charged with murder

 

 

His name is Justin Rodriguez and police say he’s a poster child for the dangers of driving while intoxicated. he already had four prior DWI convictions back when he was accused of crashing into and killing tow truck driver Alex Bleickhardt on the Northway on September 15.

 

He was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter, but an indictment handed up late Friday afternoon charges Rodriguez with murder. Prosecutors say his BAC was nearly three times the legal limit.

 

It’s a 16-count indictment that also accuses him of driving under the influence of drugs and weapon possession—police say he had a loaded gun in his truck at the time of the crash.

 

Alex Bleickhardt was just 33. his dog, Moose, was in the truck that night, and wasn’t hurt.

 

RESOURCE LINK

[TowForce]

Nine jurors seated in deadly Wilton DWI trial

 

Nine jurors have now been seated in the murder trial of Justin Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a poster child for the dangers of driving while intoxicated, police said.

 

He already had four prior DWI convictions when he was accused of crashing into and killing tow truck driver Alex Bleickhardt on the Northway in Wilton in September. Bleickhardt was just 33.

 

Jury selection continues Tuesday morning, as they work to seat three more jurors and two alternates.

 

 

Rodriguez was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter, but an indictment handed up late Friday afternoon charges Rodriguez with murder.

 

His blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, said prosecutors.

 

It’s a 16-count indictment that also accuses him of driving under the influence of drugs and weapons possession.

 

His dog, Moose, was in the truck that night, and wasn’t hurt.

 

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[TowForce]

Opening arguments set for Thursday in deadly Wilton DWI

 

 

A jury has been seated, and opening arguments are set to begin Thursday in the murder trial against Justin Rodriguez.

 

Rodriguez is accused of killing tow truck driver Alex Bleickhardt on the Northway in Wilton last September.

 

Prosecutors say he was drunk when he crashed into Bleickhardt who was helping a disabled vehicle.

 

The jury includes 12 main jurors and three alternates.

 

Opening arguments are scheduled to begin at 9:45 Thursday morning.

 

RESOURCE LINK

[TowForce]

Trial begins for Moreau man accused of driving drunk, killing tow truck driver

 

 

The Moreau man accused of striking and killing a tow truck driver on the Interstate-87 Northway last September had a blood alcohol concentration over three times the legal limit and was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana, the prosecutor said during opening arguments Thursday, July 13. Police said Justin P. Rodriguez, 42, was heading north when he left his lane and drove onto the shoulder, striking the box truck that 33-year-old Pottersville resident Alex Bleickhardt was fixing, killing him when it collapsed on him. Rodriguez is facing multiple charges including the top count of second-degree murder for the Sept. 15, 2022 crash.

 

The prosecution said during the opening statement that they will show a man who knowingly drove drunk and did not care about the consequences. The defense said his client may not look like a great man in this case, but second-degree murder is not the proper charge.

 

In his opening statement, Saratoga County Assistant District Attorney Shawn Lescault said Bleickhardt loved his job at Tow Away and his dog Moose always came with him.

 

“Little did Alex know this would be his last call,” Lescault said. “This would be the last time that he would drag tow chains. This would be the last time that he would do what he loved.”

 

Lescault said the testimony will show that Rodriguez’s actions leading up to the crash showed a “complete disregard for safety and complete indifference to the value of human life.”

 

“You’ll see and you’re going to hear through the defendant’s words and actions that he demonstrates a level of depravity that will shock your senses. This is a dark case,” Lescault said.

 

Lescault said Rodriguez had spent the night drinking tall Bud Lights and double whiskey shots at the Applebee’s in Wilton. He had run up a tab of over $80 in alcohol alone.

 

The bartender cut him off because he became visibly intoxicated and stumbled and fell into the wall when he got up to use the bathroom.

 

Lescault said Rodriguez left without paying his full tab. Other patrons spent 45 minutes telling him that he was in no condition to drive and tried to take away the keys to his Chevy Silverado truck, which was outfitted with equipment for concrete work.

 

“They pleaded with him. They begged him not to drive. The defendant was hell-bent on getting behind the wheel of a 6,000-pound work truck despite being heavily intoxicated,” he said. Rodriguez refused offers of free cab rides, Uber rides or even for somebody to drive him home in his truck, according to Lescault.

 

When the patrons said he was going to kill or injure himself or someone else by driving, Lescault said Rodriguez was unfazed.

 

“He told them he didn’t care. He told them he’d been to prison before and he wasn’t afraid to go back,” Lescault said. One patron will testify that he saw Rodriguez smoking some type of pipe.

 

Rodriguez eventually promised he wouldn’t drive, and people warned that they would call the police if he did.

 

Instead, Lescault said he backed up, ran over a curb drove to the back of the Applebee’s. One patron stood in front of the car only to jump out of the way when Rodriguez was going to hit him. Another jumped on the running boards, only for them to jump off again when Rodriguez accelerated forward. He struck another curb and nearly hit some parked cars as he moved to the back of the restaurant’s parking lot. He drove to an adjacent Hoffman’s Car Wash and crashed through a fence, exiting onto Lowe’s Drive and then onto Route 50 and the Northway.

 

A state trooper stopped at the scene of the broken-down box truck received the call from dispatch about an erratic driver heading north from Exit 15 on the Northway. The trooper left to investigate, according to Lescault.

 

According to Lescault, Rodriguez drove erratically, with his head lights off, cutting of cars and crossing three lanes of traffic and onto the shoulder where he hit the box truck at 76 mph.

 

One witness described the sound as a “wrecking ball hitting a building,” Lescault said.

 

Lescault said Rodriguez never applied his brakes or made any effort to avoid the collision. Bleickhardt was underneath the truck at the time of the conclusion and suffered severe blunt force injuries all over his body, according to Lescault.

 

The trooper that had left moments earlier returned to “absolute chaos,” Lescault said.

 

Rodriguez stepped out of the vehicle under his own power and is fine other than a few cuts to his face, according to Lescault.

 

Lescault said Rodriguez was combative with law enforcement officials and staff at Albany Medical Center.

 

His blood alcohol concentration of 0.26% — more than 3 times the legal limit. He also had cocaine and marijuana in his system.

Lescault said Rodriguez also had a loaded firearm.

 

When told he had killed someone, Rodriguez showed indifference and was more focused on retrieving belongings from his truck. He remarked to officers “I’m f****d either way,” Lescault said.

 

In his opening argument, defense attorney Michael Martin focused on whether the second-degree murder charge was appropriate given the circumstances of the case.

Martin said being a tow truck driver is a dangerous job. He pointed out that the box truck was only illuminated by the amber lights and some camera lights. It was on the side of the Northway. During construction work, there are often signs often a half-mile ahead and flares.

 

“You should take that into consideration because accidents happen all the time with sober drivers in these situations,” he said.

 

Martin said other statutes for vehicular homicide may be applicable, but the second-degree murder charge is not supported.

 

“He wasn’t driving the wrong way on a one-way street. He wasn’t driving into a school yard full of kids and kept driving. He’s responsible for one death, which is hugely significant, but there’s other cases where people have killed over 20 people and not be charged with murder second,” he said referring to the Schoharie limousine case that left 20 people in the car and outside dead.

 

Martin said the prosecution wants to have it both ways.

 

“Mr. Lescault wants you to believe that my client was so intoxicated that he shouldn’t have been on the road, but in the other hand he wasn’t intoxicated enough that he could form an intent of disregarding (human life).”

 

He admitted that his client is not going to come across as a great guy in the testimony. He was visibly upset at Applebee’s and then upset immediately after the accident.

As for continuing to drive, Martin pointed out it was a work truck.

 

“Sometimes, people won’t follow the law in order to put food on their table and pay the bills,” he said.

 

He said that the gun found in his girlfriend’s car belonged to Rodriguez’s girlfriend.

 

Martin said the prosecution’s strategy is to show is client is “not a good human being and he deserves the top charge.

 

“I don’t think that murder-second is applicable. We probably wouldn’t be here if that charge wasn’t laid against my client in the indictment,” he said.

The trial will resume Monday.

 

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[TowForce]

A Saratoga County jury began deliberating the fate of accused murderer Justin Rodriguez on Tuesday afternoon.

 

 

Rodriguez is accused of driving while drunk and under the influence of cocaine and marijuana when he crashed his truck into tow truck operator Alex Bleickhardt, who was helping a broken-down truck along the Northway in Wilton.

 

Rodriguez has three prior DWI convictions, and prosecutors told the jury that his actions on the night of September 15 showed that he had “‘depraved indifference to human life.” He had a .26 BAC, investigators said. That’s more than three times the legal limit.

 

Rodriguez faces p to 25 years to life in prison, if he’s convicted.

 

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[TowForce]

Moreau man convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide for crash that killed tow truck driver

 

ALLSTON SPA — A Moreau man was convicted on Thursday of aggravated vehicular homicide for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and striking and killing a tow truck driver last September.

 

A Saratoga County Court jury made up of nine women and three men spent about four hours deliberating before delivering guilty verdicts on 14 out of 16 counts of the indictment against 42-year-old Justin P. Rodriguez. They acquitted him on the top count of second-degree murder.

 

Police said Rodriguez was under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana when his work truck left the roadway and drove onto the shoulder in Wilton at about 10:39 p.m. on Sept. 15, 2022, striking and killing 33-year-old Pottersville resident Alex Bleickhardt, who was working under a box truck on the side of the highway.

Rodriguez’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.26%. His license had been permanently revoked after three drunk driving convictions — two from 2018 and one from 2010.

 

The jury received the case at about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and deliberated for almost two hours before adjourning for the day. Jurors did not meet on Wednesday but resumed deliberations at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning.

 

The central question for jurors whether Rodriguez’s conduct rose to the level of second-degree murder — meaning that Rodriguez was not only driving recklessly at the time of the crash but had “wanton” or “depraved” disregard for human life.

 

During the trial, witnesses had testified that Rodriguez had been drinking beers and whiskey shots at the Applebee’s and became very intoxicated. When he got up to leave, other patrons at the restaurant insisted that he not drive because he would kill or injure somebody. Rodriguez refused multiple offers of rides and said he was getting in his truck. One of the patrons even attempted to climb into the truck and Rodriguez accelerated, so the man had to jump away, he testified in the trial.

Rodriguez crashed through a fence at the car wash next to the restaurant before getting onto Route 50 to head to the highway.

 

After the crash, Rodriguez refused breath and blood tests and said he was going to flee to the Carolinas, which Senior Assistant District Attorney Shawn Lescault said indicated consciousness of guilt.

 

Rodriguez will be sentenced on Sept. 14.

 

RESOURCE LINK

[TowForce]

Drunk driver sentenced in tow truck driver's death