Police: Collision Involving Mayor Was Simple Fender-Bender

An accident last week involving Port Chester's mayor was a minor collision with no injuries and no indication that either driver had consumed alcohol, according to Port Chester police.

The collision was reported to police at 9:26 p.m. on Nov. 2. The cars were headed in opposite directions on Wesley Avenue near Neuton Avenue when they collided as both drivers were negotiating a sharp turn, Lt. James Ladeairous said.

Both Mayor Dennis Pilla and the 20-year-old Rye Brook woman driving the other car were uninjured and were able to drive their vehicles away from the accident scene, Ladeairous said. A passenger in the Rye Brook woman's car was not injured.

Rumors have spread since the collision, and Rye Town Republicans have used the accident as a political opportunity, suggesting the mayor was drunk and avoided a breathalyzer test with the aid of complicit law enforcement or firefighters. Police, who recently arrested one of their own officers for DWI, call the allegations "all bogus."

"Nobody got hurt and there were no breathalyzers because there was no alcohol detected at all," Ladeairous said.

Pilla, who was arrested on a DUI charge in New York City in 2009, said he's heard several different rumors about last week's accident, most of them alleging a police cover-up or a scenario where firefighters whisked him away to avoid charges.

"Nothing surprises me with the politics in our town," Pilla said. "I often find it disgusting, in fact. And it's very disturbing that somebody could try to distort a simple fender-bender into something like this."

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