Man charged with driving drunk while taking daughter to preschool

MONROE-A 49-year-old Monroe man was charged with driving while intoxicated on the morning of Feb. 9 after he was involved in a traffic accident as he was driving his four-year-old daughter to pre-school. Steven Babcock was sent to the Orange County Jail on $5,000 bail on several charges, including endangering the welfare of a child. The incident began that Wednesday at 9:16 a.m. as Monroe police responded to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Pine Tree and Still roads. While investigating the accident and speaking to the parties involved, police said that the officers noticed that Babcock appeared to be intoxicated. Police said the officers interviewed Babcock at the scene and had him perform several field sobriety tests, which, they said, he failed. Police also said that he was responsible for the accident. Babcock's blood-alcohol content was .11, according to police. The threshold for driving while intoxicated is .08. He taken back to police headquarters where he was charged with felony driving while intoxicated because of a prior conviction in the last 10 years. In addition to the DWI and endangering the welfare of a child charges, he also was charged with operating an unregistered motor vehicle Police reported that there were no injuries in the accident.