A politically powerful assistant to Westchester County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino has resigned after allegedly causing a five-car accident in his county-owned SUV and getting slapped with a drunken-driving charge Monday, officials said.
Hugh Fox Jr., 56, who is also head of the Westchester County Conservative Party, stepped down from his $105,740-a-year post as a labor specialist for Astorino, a job he had held since 2010.
Fox receives a firefighter pension, according to The Journal News of Westchester.
Just after the accident, Fox told one of the other drivers that “he was not going to be arrested because he works for the county,” the newspaper reported.
But he was slurring his speech and failed a sobriety test, police said.
The Conservative Party has endorsed Astorino for governor and endorsed him for county executive during his re-election effort last year.
“Hugh Fox offered his resignation Tuesday morning, effective immediately, and it was accepted,” said Ned McCormack, a spokesman for Astorino.