Police: Drunken driver hits school bus, punches Good Samaritan

A Mastic woman, driving under the influence of alcohol, crashed into a mini school bus Friday morning occupied by five passengers, including three children, before later hitting a trailer attached to a pickup truck, Suffolk police said.

The wild, early-morning episode ended after a Good Samaritan followed the suspect, Luz Maria Fuentes, into the parking lot of Island Cinemas in Mastic and confronted the woman. Fuentes then punched the unidentified man in the face before she was arrested by Seventh Precinct officers, authorities said.

Fuentes, 36, of Eleanor Avenue, was charged with driving while intoxicated, harassment and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, police said.

Fuentes was driving a 2004 Toyota Sienna on Mastic Road, near Mastic Boulevard, at around 7:45 a.m. when her vehicle struck the rear of a mini school bus with three children and two adults on board, police said. No passengers were injured.

After fleeing the scene, Fuentes' vehicle then struck a trailer attached to a pickup truck that was traveling on Mastic Road, authorities said.

Fuentes fled the scene again and eventually drove to the movie theater parking lot on Montauk Highway where she was confronted by the witness, police said. 

She will be held overnight at the Fourth Precinct in Smithtown and will be arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Central Islip.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.