Republican gubernatorial front-runner Thomas Foley was twice arrested on charges that were later dropped, a newspaper reported Friday, a disclosure that drew criticism of the Greenwich business investor from his two challengers in the GOP primary.

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, of Stamford, and R. Nelson Griebel, of Simsbury, who are competing against Foley in the Aug. 10 party primary, said the arrests indicate a troubling pattern.

"The charges against Mr. Foley are very serious, and there remain many unanswered questions," Fedele said.

"The Republican Party needs a well-respected leader who can win in November," Griebel said. "This latest episode only adds to Tom's ever-growing list of liabilities."

One 1993 incident, reported Friday by The Hartford Courant, involved Foley operating a car that allegedly ran off the road a vehicle operated by his then-wife, Lisa Foley, from whom he was divorced a year later. His 12-year-old son, Thomas C. Foley Jr., was in her car at the time.

Foley, 58, told the Courant that he never tried to force Lisa Foley's car off the road, that the cars never touched, and that both he and she were arrested by Greenwich police on breach of peace charges that were later dropped.

The other incident, in 1981, occurred in Southampton, N.Y.

Foley, then 29, was accused of ramming another vehicle with his car and spent a night in jail, according to the Courant, which filed a request to obtain copies of documents that are under seal in New York.

Foley told the Courant that the collision was a low-speed accident in a line of cars leaving the same party.

In a statement released by his campaign Friday, Foley said, "These were unfortunate incidents and ones that I wish hadn't happened."

He noted both incidents occurred years ago and that they were reviewed during his U.S. security clearance and his Senate confirmation to be U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

"I hope my opponents will soon see that the citizens of Connecticut are interested in a dialogue about the serious issues facing Connecticut and not events from long ago that have no bearing on who should be Connecticut's next governor," he said.

Lisa Foley, in a brief phone interview Friday while preparing to leave for Haiti on an assignment with the nonprofit Touch Global Needs, declined to comment.

Foley won the Republican endorsement at last month's convention and has a substantial lead in the polls over Fedele and Griebel. The June 10 Quinnipiac University Poll showed Foley with 39 percent support among state Republicans, to Fedele's 12 percent and Griebel's 2 percent.

"The first test for any candidate for governor is to be forthright and honest with the people," Fedele said. "Mr. Foley needs to come clean and authorize the release of court records relating to his arrest and imprisonment and explain the discrepancies in the various accounts of his second arrest so voters can know the full truth about these troubling incidents."

Griebel said the Courant article raises "very real and serious concerns" about Foley.

"Connecticut needs a leader with a proven track record of real results who can turn around our economy and restore fiscal sanity in Hartford, not a politically opportunistic millionaire whose record includes bankrupting companies and an arrest history of domestic violence allegations," Griebel said.

"In this spirit and the best interest of our party, I call on Tom to exercise full transparency and approve the release of sealed court records detailing his arrests, making his complete past known to the voters," Griebel said.