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HUDSON FALLS -- A Hudson Falls man hit four cars while driving drunk Tuesday afternoon, striking three of them as he fled from police with a teenage girl in the car with him, police said.

Police ended the pursuit by pulling Ronald J. Ruff, 35, of Washington Street, Hudson Falls from his car as he tried to drive through heavy traffic on Main Street just before 5 p.m., Hudson Falls Police Sgt. Randy Diamond said.

Ruff is a Level 3 sex offender whose conviction was for sexual abuse of a teenage girl, according to police records.

"It wasn't a high-speed pursuit. He just refused to stop his car," Diamond said.

His blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.22 percent, nearly triple the threshold for intoxication of 0.08 percent, police said.

He was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, failure to stop for a personal injury accident endangering the welfare of a child and a host of other traffic violations, including a count of unlawful fleeing of police, a newly enacted charge.

 Diamond said police began pursuing Ruff's car when it hit another vehicle on the Boulevard in Hudson Falls.

With police behind him, his car then hit another vehicle at the intersection of Main and Feeder streets, and continued south on Main Street.

The car got bogged down in traffic near the intersection of Main and John streets, hitting two more vehicles but slowing to the point where officers were able to get out of their vehicles and physically remove him from his car, Diamond said.

"He got caught in heavy traffic and they were able to get him out," Diamond said.

The 16-year-old girl who was in the car with him jumped from the vehicle after the first of the two crashes that occurred near John Street, police said. She was not hurt.

None of the people whose vehicles Ruff allegedly hit were seriously hurt, police said.

In addition to the misdemeanor charges, he also faces the traffic violations of reckless driving, imprudent speed, unlicensed operation, imprudent speed, failure to comply with police.

He is a Level 3 sex offender because of a 2000 conviction for misdemeanor sexual abuse, which came after he was charged with felony sexual abuse for allegedly forcing a 15-year-old girl to have sexual contact in Glens Falls.

Level 3 sex offenders are considered the greatest risk to re-offend.

Ruff was arraigned in Hudson Falls Village Court and sent to Washington County Jail for lack of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bail bond.

The arrest was made by village patrolmen Travis Earl, Dave Willis and Sgt. Mark LaFay.