Top New York lawmaker charged with drunk driving after warning against it

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, speaks during a news conference on proposed Assembly rules reforms at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Kolb was charged on New Year's Eve for driving while intoxicated. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

The top Republican in the New York State Assembly was charged on New Year’s Eve with driving while intoxicated just days after he penned an op-ed warning New Yorkers against drunk driving.

Brian Kolb was arrested Tuesday night close to his Victor, N.Y., home after what he described as a “lapse in judgment.”

Local officials were called to a crash just before 10:30 p.m., after Kolb’s 2018 GMC Acadia crashed into a ditch in front of his home.

DRUNKEN DRIVER FIVE TIMES OVER THE LIMIT CAUGHT IN CAR MISSING TWO TIRES

An Ontario County sheriff’s deputy gave Kolb field sobriety tests, which he failed. Kolb’s blood-alcohol content was over 0.08 percent, officials said. The legal limit for driving in New York is 0.08 percent.

“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 written statement. “I made the wrong decision, and it is one I deeply regret.”

The incident comes just a week after Kolb wrote a column in the upstate Daily Messenger newspaper, warning people against driving under the influence of alcohol during the holiday season, while acknowledging that December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month.

“Many of our holiday traditions, especially our New Year’s Eve celebrations, involve indulging in spirits,” he wrote. “Done safely, and in moderation, these can be wonderful holiday experiences. However, tragedy can be only one bad decision away.”

Kolb has been in the New York State Assembly representing his upstate district since 2000 and has served as minority leader since 2009. In 2018, Kolb launched a gubernatorial campaign to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but dropped out of the race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.