CLIFTON PARK – Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello was confused and uncooperative when State Police stopped her last week on Route 146A in Clifton Park for alleged road rage, according to court records.

Mantello told the trooper who stopped her that she believed she was on a road in the Schenectady County town of Rotterdam and headed to her home in Troy when she was pulled over Dec. 26 in southern Saratoga County, according to court documents.

Mantello was charged with driving while intoxicated, following too closely and refusing to take a breath test. She is due back in town court on Jan. 3.

Mantello also told police that she was on her way home from Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady and was being followed by another car.

Police were initially called when another driver, who police have not identified, called to say an aggressive driver was following their vehicle too closely on Interstate 890 in Schenectady.

The caller drove east from I-890 to the Thruway before heading north on the Northway and getting off at Exit 9 in Clifton Park, State Police said. The driver who called police told troopers the second driver - identified by State Police as Mantello - followed their car the entire way.

Mantello refused to take a roadside sobriety test and did not provide State Police with a breath sample until they brought her to the Clifton Park station, court records show.

At the station her blood alcohol level was measured at 0.13 percent, State Police said.

William Roberts, the Troy defense attorney hired by Mantello, declined to comment on the case Monday.

Mantello's arrest came at a time when she was weighing whether to challenge Mayor Patrick Madden in the 2019 mayoral race. She was the only Republican currently being considered for the race against the one-term incumbent Democrat. Madden has been holding fund-raisers in preparation for his run for a second four-year term as mayor.

Mantello ran for mayor in 2011, losing to Lou Rosamilia.

On Friday, Mantello apologized for her actions that night.

"I understand the severity of my actions and take full responsibility," Mantello said in the emailed statement. "I apologize to my family, friends and constituents and am deeply sorry that I let you down. I expect more from myself."

Except for issuing the statement, Mantello has kept a low-profile. Friends and supporters said they have only had limited exchanges of text messages with the council president since her arrest.

Mantello is also a $70,000-a-year legislative director for state Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Warren County. Little could not be reached for comment Monday about Mantello's employment status. The charges against Mantello come as the Republicans have lost control of the State Senate and anticipate seeing staffing cuts and salary reductions for their remaining staff members.