Keep On Trucking, Mr. Ding-A-Ling!

Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver put on ice after DWI arrest while driving ice cream truck

Jeremy Ryan/cnycentral.com

FULTON COUNTY -- The driver of an ice cream truck who was the victim of an alleged harassment earlier this year has been accused of drunk driving – in his ice cream truck.

According to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, around 12:10 a.m. Saturday morning 53-year-old Phillip Hollister of Gloversville was driving a “Mr. Ding-A-Ling” ice cream truck on County Route 123 in Northampton when he allegedly swerved in front of a sheriff’s patrol car and “ran the car off the road”.

Police say Hollister was then pulled over by the deputy and given a breathalyzer test, where he blew a .15% BAC, nearly twice the legal limit of .08% in New York State.

Brian Collis, the owner of Mr. Ding-A-Ling, says Hollister is no longer employed there. Collis says he just found out about the arrest Wednesday morning when the company received a call from the county.
“I haven’t found him (Hollister) yet, but I will (fire him) when I do” said Collis.

“We’re looking for the truck right now,” Collis added, indicating Hollister never returned it after his arrest.

Hollister was charged with driving with intoxicated. He was ticketed and is scheduled to appear in Northampton Town Court on August 15.

This past May, Hollister was the subject of a spat with a “Sno Cone Joe” ice cream truck in Gloversville. In that dispute, police said two Sno Cone Joe operators harassed and stalked Hollister after allegedly confronting him and yelling "this is my town!" at the rival Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver.

Hollister told police at the time that Sno Cone Joe owners Joshua Malatino and Amanda Scott followed his truck, played their music at high volume, and tried to lure away customers with promises of free ice cream.

This story has it all! Drunk driving in an ice cream truck, losing that ice cream truck and harassment between two ice cream truck drivers. Not to mention, the name of the ice cream truck company is Mr. Ding-A-Ling.

Who would have known that the guys over at Sno Cone Joe’s were so fierce? I haven’t seen a rivalry over product like this since Avon’s crew tried to take over the avenue corners and Marlo wasn’t having it.

The war got so bad that it drove Phillip Hollister to drinking. His life was probably going fine and then those bastards over at Sno Cone Joe’s started cutting into his sales with free ice cream giveaways. His finances probably fell apart, causing his wife and kids to cut and run. He tries to drink away his troubles and gets popped for DUI. Now, he’s lost his job.

As Squeek Scolari once said, “I think it was losing the truck that pissed them off the most.”