Ulster County driver guilty of causing two accidents, injuring 4, while on drugs
KINGSTON - An Ulster County woman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicular assault Monday for two collisions she caused while driving under the influence of drugs, the district attorney's office announced Thursday.
A pedestrian in the first of those collisions and two drivers and a passenger in cars in the second collision were all seriously hurt.
According to the Ulster County District Attorney's office, Nancy Naccarato, 55, of Napanoch, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, a felony, before County Court Judge Bryan Rounds on Monday.
Naccarato was first arrested on Dec. 3, 2022, after she allegedly drove across a double yellow line on Route 209 in Wawarsing and struck a pedestrian who was walking on the side of the road, causing him serious injury.
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Blood test results showed Ambien and cocaine in her system, the district attorney's office said. At her arraignment in Wawarsing Town Court, she was released to pre-trial supervision over the objections of the district attorney's office.
While released, Naccarato did nearly the same thing two months later.
On Feb. 17, 2023, Naccarato was driving on Route 209 in Marbletown when she allegedly crossed the double yellow line and struck another vehicle head-on. The driver of that vehicle and her 6-year-old daughter suffered serious physical injuries, as did the driver of another vehicle that was behind them and became part of the collision.
Naccarato refused to submit to a chemical test, but the district attorney's office obtained a search warrant, and a blood test showed Alprazolam and cocaine in her system.
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Naccarato was held in the Ulster County jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail after that collision, and has remained incarcerated since then.
Sentencing before Judge Rounds is currently scheduled for March 4, 2024. Naccarato faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of aggravated vehicular assault.
Naccarato's attorney, Mikael Cohn, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Napanoch driver pleads guilty after two crashes injure four people
