NEW BERLIN – The Town of New Berlin Police responded to separate hit and run accidents this weekend nearly 24 hours apart, charging both defendants with drunk driving.

New Berlin officer-in-charge Dominick Commesso said officers on patrol early Saturday and Sunday morning came upon accident scenes that toppled two different utility poles in the Village of New Berlin.

Commesso said Friday night, officer Edward Ulfik was making routine rounds through the village at about 2:15 a.m. when he came upon a snapped utility pole and scattered car debris along South Main Street.

“Only a short time earlier, Officer Ulfik had passed the location and there was not damage; he realized the damage must have occurred very recently,” said Commesso.

Ulfik noticed a trail of debris and engine fluids heading out of the village and in the direction of the Town of Pittsfield. The officer then came upon a damaged car and a man attempting to change a flat tire.

Commesso said the vehicle was “badly damaged and not legally driveable,” but the defendant still managed to travel less than a mile from the scene to Otsego County Road 13 in the Town of Pittsfield.