Driver charged with DWI after crash seriously injures 5-year-old, police say

An East Patchogue woman was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated Saturday after crashing her car into another vehicle and seriously injuring a 5-year-old girl, police said.

Sandra Stewart, 57, was driving a Toyota Camry east on Motor Parkway in Central Islip when she attempted to turn left onto Joshua's Path but instead crashed head-on into a westbound Honda sport utility vehicle just before 9 p.m., Suffolk County police said Sunday.

A 5-year-old girl in the backseat of the Honda was taken via ambulance to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore then airlifted to Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park to be treated for serious injuries, police said. The Honda driver, Hugo Chavez, 23, of Huntington Station, and his four other passengers were not injured. 

Stewart was taken to Southside Hospital and treated for minor injuries, police said. She was held overnight at the Fourth Precinct in Smithtown and arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Sunday. She was represented by a public defender and released on her own recognizance, court records show..

Police have impounded both vehicles.