Cops: Driver, mom were drunk with kids in car

Two women were charged with endangering two young children by allowing them to ride in a car where both the driver and their mother were intoxicated, authorities said Monday.

Alicia Spradley, 26, of Quogue, the driver, was charged with driving while intoxicated and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Rebecca Sullivan, 27, of Shirley, the mother of the children, ages 5 and 7, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

After they cut off another driver, their car was stopped on Sunrise Highway in Eastport about 8 a.m. Sunday by a Suffolk deputy sheriff, officials said. Spradley's alcohol level was tested, and gave a reading of .10, above the legal limit of .08, officials said.

Michael P. Sharkey, the sheriff's chief of staff, said the women admitted that they had picked up the children after a night of drinking. "Keep in mind she was arrested in the morning," Sharkey said. "These ladies were out the night before drinking and to be still at .10 at 9 o'clock the next morning, they must have been drinking a lot, or started a lot later than they said."

Deputy Sheriff Vincent Aparicio, who stopped their vehicle between exits 61 and 62, issued additional tickets because neither child was secured in a proper seat restraint, Sharkey said.

Spradley was released on $1,000 bail Monday after arraignment in Southampton Justice Court. Sullivan was held at the Suffolk Jail on $500 bail. The children were placed in the custody of Sullivan's sister, Sharkey said.