Hyde Park Man Arrested For Ninth DWI

Poughkeepsie…The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department report the arrest of Joseph Lephew (56 yoa) of Hyde Park, NY on felony charges stemming from a traffic stop on Cannon Street in the City of Poughkeepsie.

At approximately 3:07am on Friday June 12, 2015 Lephew was stopped for a traffic infraction while operating a 2002 Chevrolet on Cannon St.  Subsequent investigation revealed that Lephew was intoxicated and operating the vehicle with a revoked drivers license.

He was arrested and charged with DWI & Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle 1st both of which were felonies.    The DWI charge was a felony since he had a prior DWI conviction within the prior ten years, that being in October 2006 in the City of Poughkeepsie.   This is Lephew’s ninth DWI arrest dating back to 1987 with at least four prior DWI convictions, three of those being felony DWI convictions.

The AUO 1st charge was also a felony because his driving privilege was revoked for a DWI related offense and he was intoxicated while operating the motor vehicle. The revocation was from January 2007 for a DWI conviction.

Lephew was arraigned in the City of Poughkeepsie Court where he was remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to appear back in city court on June 17, 2015 at 11:00am.

*All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in a local court at a later date.