At 10:09 p.m., officers were on the scene of a motor vehicle crash on Route 15, Sparta police said. While police were assessing the damage from the crash, a gray Ford, driven by 43-year-old Nicole Romeo, a Hamburg resident, struck their patrol vehicle, officers said.
As police tended to Romeo, they detected the odor of alcohol on her breath and noted her speech was slurred, officers said. Romeo told police she had a glass of wine earlier in the day, officers said.
Romeo said she did not realize her vehicle struck a police car and said she was looking at her phone prior to the crash, police said. Romeo also told police she did not a possess a valid driver's license and had not driven a car for several years, police said. Romeo failed several sobriety tests, police said.
Romeo was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while suspended and driving without a valid license, police said. She was transported to the Sparta Police Department for processing.
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