15-year-old Female Passenger Safe and Turned Over to a Parent

Buffalo, NY – Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard reports Deputies Rogers and Hyde arrested 19-year-old Macayl Kunkle of Amherst following a traffic stop where he was operating his vehicle at more than 100 mph on Interstate 90 in the Town of Hamburg.

The incident started around 9:15 P.M. Tuesday night when the vehicle passed a marked Erie County Sheriff’s vehicle on the Thruway.  Deputy Rogers stopped the vehicle, assisted by Deputy Hyde.

The operator was administered standard field sobriety tests and a field pre-screen breath test.  Kunkle failed the field tests and registered a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level more than twice the legal limit.

Kunkle and his fifteen-year-old passenger were transported to the North Collins Substation where she was picked up by a parent.

Kunkle is charged with felony aggravated DWI (Leandra's Law) as well as misdemeanor counts of DWI, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment.  He was also charged with drinking alcohol in a vehicle on a highway, speeding, operating a vehicle without insurance and several other vehicle and traffic law violations.

Deputies transported Kunkle to the Erie County Holding Center on $750.00 bail, and he was later released.