Rep. Vito Fossella, facing a tough re-election bid this fall in his Staten Island district, was arrested for drunken driving early yesterday in a Washington suburb and briefly jailed. "Last night, I made an error in judgment," Fossella, 43, said in a statement released by his office in the afternoon. "I apologize to my family and the constituents of the 13th Congressional District for embarrassing them, as well as myself."
Fossella, who was arrested on the final day of Virginia's "Alcohol Awareness Month," was brought to the Alexandria Sheriff's Office at 1:10 a.m. and released about three hours later, officials said.
If convicted, he faces a $250 fine and revocation of his license for a year. He could also be sentenced to five to 10 days in jail, depending on his blood-alcohol level. That figure was not disclosed.
In his apology, Fossella said, "As a parent, I know that taking even one drink of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a car is wrong."
Fossella, who is married and has three children, is New York City's only Republican congressman.
He is expected to face stiff opposition in November when he seeks a fifth full term against the winner of a Democratic primary, either Stephen Harrison or Domenic Recchia.
Calling DWI "a very serious charge," Harrison said elected officials and candidates "have an obligation to set an example for society - lawmakers cannot expect the people to follow the laws if they themselves disregard them."
Republican concern about holding the seat was underlined last month when Vice President Dick Cheney attended a fund-raiser for Fossella in Manhattan.
Fossella's most recent campaign-finance filing showed he was more than $75,000 behind Recchia, a Brooklyn city councilman.
Fossella was first elected to Congress in a special election in 1997 to succeed Rep. Susan Molinari.
Since then, his winning margins have fallen from 70 percent in 2002 to 57 percent in 2006, when his opponent was Harrison.
In 2002, Fossella co-sponsored a House resolution that would have included alcohol-related crimes in a crime-victims' rights amendment.
The legislation would have specified that a person injured by a drunken driver was a "victim of violent crime," with additional legal remedies.
