Robert Thompson
A Schuylerville school teacher resigned from his job and will serve a prison sentence of 1 to 3 years after pleading guilty to vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated, prosecutors announced Monday morning.
Robert J. Thompson, 38, had a blood alcohol content of .18 percent during the early morning hours of Nov. 20, when he crossed the middle line of Route 29 in Saratoga Springs and struck a vehicle operated by 19-year-old Clinton English, law enforcement officials said.
English, of Greenwich, was ejected from his vehicle and broke his back and left ankle, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said. He wore a back brace for three months and cannot work, Murphy said.
Thompson was not hurt in the crash. The Gansevoort man pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular assault, a felony, and was sentenced Monday by county Judge Jerry J. Scarano to up to three years in prison, prosecutors said.
“Anytime someone drives drunk and causes serious physical injury, a state prison sentence is appropriate,” Murphy said in a statement released by his office.
Thompson also lost his driver’s license and must pay fines and restitution. He was taken to Saratoga County Jail and will serve his sentence at the Downstate Correctional Facility at Fishkill, Murphy said.