DUI Arrest

Police report they received a call about 12:54 pm on April 26 reporting that a motorist was driving erratically on Queen Street, so they went to the area to investigate.

Police said they located the driver in the parking lot at Newtown Shopping Village at 6 Queen Street and investigated.

Police said they charged motorist Kathleen Mercaldi, 39, of Southbury with driving under the influence. Mercaldi was additionally charged with risk of injury to a minor because the vehicle that she was driving contained a passenger under age 16, police said.

Police released Mercaldi on a written promise to appear May 13 in Danbury Superior Court.

School Bus

Police report a school bus accident about 6:40 am April 29 at the western intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Saw Mill Road. There were no injuries.

Motorist Mary Ruffles, 75, of 2 Saw Mill Road, who was driving a 2007 Kia Optima, was waiting at the end of her driveway and attempting to enter the eastbound lane of Mt Pleasant Road, police said.

At that time, a 2002 Bluebird school bus driven by Melinda Leigh Jaehn, 29, of 57 Taunton Lake Road, which was carrying 12 students, was traveling eastward on Mt Pleasant Road, police said.

The Kia then exited the driveway and collided with the school at the intersection of Saw Mill Road and Mt Pleasant Road, police said. Ruffles received an infraction ticket for failure to grant the right of way, according to police.