Irondequoit woman pleads guilty to vehicular assault

Danielle Conrad

ALBION – An Irondequoit woman pleaded guilty today to second-degree vehicular assault for hitting a Medina man with her car on Sept. 7, and causing life-threatening injuries including a leg amputation.

Danielle E. Conrad, 38, also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. She could face up to four years in state prison when she is sentenced on April 11.

Conrad registered a 0.17 percent Blood Alcohol Content on Sept. 7, more than twice the legal limit.

In court today, Conrad said the victim jumped in front of her car. He had been walking by the side of Harrison Road, which she said didn’t have sidewalks.

“It was dark and I didn’t see him,” Conrad told Orleans County Court Judge James Punch this afternoon.

Christopher M. Caldwell, 37, had been a passenger in a sedan operated by Conrad. At some point on Sept. 7 the two got into a dispute and Caldwell was dropped off on Harrison Road. Conrad drove off, but returned to pick up Caldwell a short time later, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department reported.

She drove past him at one point, then drove down the road and turned around. During all this time they were conversing with each other by cell phone, according to the police report.

Conrad drove down Harrison Road a second time and that time she struck Caldwell, the Sheriff’s Department reported. He was flown by Mercy Flight helicopter to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.

District Attorney Joe Cardone said Caldwell has brain damage, but the degree isn’t yet known.