Authorities say a man with a drunk driving conviction drove the wrong way on Interstate 91

Authorities say a man with a drunk driving conviction drove the wrong way on Interstate 91 in St. Johnsbury on Sunday and nearly hit a state police car trying to get him to stop. David Capaccioli, 56, of Plainfield, is accused of driving a Subaru Outback south in the northbound lane of I91. State Police became aware of the wrong-way interstate driver just before 8 p.m. on Sunday. The trooper driving north in the passing lane encountered the Subaru near Exit 21 as it was coming south, also traveling in the passing lane as other motorists were going north in the travel lane. The trooper said the Subaru was not stopping. The lights and sirens of the police car were activated at the time but the car failed to stop.

The vehicle then traveled off the interstate and onto the Exit 21 on-ramp in the wrong direction onto a divided portion of Route 2. Additional troopers converged and stopped the Subaru on the US-2 / I-91 overpass. Troopers secured the vehicle and identified the operator as Capaccioli. He showed signs of impairment, and was taken into custody and transported to the St. Johnsbury Barracks for processing. He is facing charges of drunken driving, second-offense and gross negligent operation.