District Attorney Adam Levy and Assistant D.A. Heather Abissi inventory a $80,000 Mercedes seized from a motorist convicted of felony DWI for repeated drunken driving arrests at the county’s vehicle forfeiture lot in Patterson Monday. Eric Gross The inventory at the Putnam County DWI vehicle forfeiture lot is growing by the day!

District Attorney Adam Levy visited the site at the rear of the Putnam County Highway Department garage in Patterson Monday with Assistant District Attorney Heather Abissi whose responsibility has been to coordinate the vehicle forfeiture program.

While Levy said the county was not in the used car business, he warned intoxicated motorists “drink and drive and lose your ride. My staff and I are tired of irresponsible men and women who get behind the wheel drunk. Perhaps the message will reach home when vehicles are seized and sold at auction.”

By looking around the lot, one can plainly see that Putnam has gotten tough on repeat DWI offenders since along with an assorted number of clunkers, a flashy motorcycle and several pick-ups this reporter observed a Mercedes 500 sports car valued at $80,000.

Abissi said simply: “There will be no exceptions. We are talking zero tolerance.”

Levy chimed in: “It doesn’t make a difference whether a drunk is behind the wheel of an $80,000 car or an $80 car. Everyone will be treated equally no matter who you are!”

Levy also cleared up a misconception echoed by naysayers of the policy when it was approved earlier this year: “Critics contended that those who own their cars outright were getting treated more harshly than those with loans on their vehicles.”

Levy told the Courier: “It makes no difference whether a defendant owes money on the vehicle or not.”

Levy and his staff have made arrangements with banks and other lending institutions where once a vehicle becomes forfeited, it will be returned to the lending institution for re-sale. The defendant will have to continue paying on the bank loan or note while the District Attorney’s office will receive a ten percent rebate of the vehicle’s value from the bank in order for it to be removed from the impound lot.

Levy said the D.A.’s office had increased the range of penalties for first time offenders and now with the Civil Forfeiture Program,” we have taken the next step to increasing penalties for repeat drunk driving. People in our county who repeatedly have driven drunk have demonstrated themselves as being too reckless to be afforded the right to own a vehicle and operate a car.”