Newsday.com
Teen blames kiss for her drunken driving arrest
ANN GIVENS

May 30, 2008

They say a lover's kiss can be intoxicating.

Gianna Vigliotti, who was pulled over by police as she swerved in and out of her lane on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset Friday night, said that's exactly what happened to her, according to court documents.

After the 17-year-old from Glen Cove recorded a .15 percent blood-alcohol level in a portable breath test - nearly the twice the legal limit of .08 percent - she told the officer who pulled her over, "I didn't drink! I was kissing a boy who was drunk," according to the police report.

It made no difference to Officer Michael Pallazzo whether Vigliotti's speech was slurred from smooching or from swigging. When he found four full beer bottles under the passenger seat of her Volkswagen and an empty beer can in her purse, he placed her under arrest, court documents said.

She pleaded not guilty the following day, and was released to probation without bail. She is next due in court June 18.

Vigliotti's attorney, Dennis Lemke of Mineola, said his client and her family are devastated by the charge.

"To now have it publicized is not only embarrassing, but demeaning as well," he said. "We expect it to be resolved in the near future."

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