Albany Cop Charged with DWI

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From the Albany TimesUnion.com:

Albany Cop Charged with DWI

Officer Greg Krikorian, 25, arrested after an attempt to park his Corvette resulted in a fire, destroying a parking garage and apartment building.

By BRUCE A. SCRUTON, Staff writer

Last updated: 10:35 a.m., Thursday, October 7, 2004

ALBANY -- A city police officer is under arrest on a charge of driving while intoxicated after his car set fire to a building that contained a set of garages and an apartment early this morning.

Officer Greg Krikorian, 25, who has been on the force since 2001, was arrested by State Police and will probably be suspended sometime today, Albany police spokesman Detective James Miller said.

State Police spokeswoman Trooper Maureen Tuffey said traffic investigators are looking into the accident that occurred just after midnight on Interstate 787 in Watervliet. She said a witness saw Krikorian's 1988 Corvette strike a guard rail and continue on.

Green Island Fire Chief Michael F. Carlow said Krikorian tried to back his car into the garage he rents, one of five on the first floor. The second floor is a three-bedroom apartment that spans the 60-foot-long, two- story building.
Carlow said it appears that during one attempt to back the vehicle into the garage, the gas tank ruptured "spraying gasoline around inside" and something ignited the gas. One resident, an RPI student, escaped unhurt.

When the fire was reported at 1:06 a.m., Carlow called for assistance from Watervliet and Cohoes departments, the chief said. The building was destroyed, he said.

Tuffey said troopers apparently had been given the license plate number of the Corvette by the witness, but she didn't know if the police were already on their way to Krikorian's apartment at River's Edge or were called there because of the fire. Krikorian's father, Charles, was with the Albany department for 33 years, most of them as a detective. His retirement party was Wednesday evening, but it was not immediately known if Greg Krikorian was on his way home from that party or had stopped somewhere else.

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