Cops: Man who let 13-year-old drive with child in car charged

A Huntington Station man was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after he allowed his 13-year-old daughter to drive with a 3-year-old child in the backseat Saturday night, Suffolk County police said.

Police said Alejandro Noriega, 45, of Eighth Avenue, was arrested after a Second Precinct Community Support Unit officer saw a 1995 Toyota Camry being driven erratically at about 6:30 p.m. while heading northbound on Oakwood Road in Huntington Station.

The officer pulled the vehicle over and found that a 13-year-old girl was driving, with Noriega in the front passenger seat, police said. Police added there was a 3-year-old boy in a child safety seat in the back of the vehicle.

In addition to being charged with two counts of child endangerment, Noriega was issued a summons for permitting unlicensed operation of a vehicle. He was being held in lieu of a $500 cash bail or $1,000 bond after being arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Central Islip and ordered to return to court on Wednesday.

The 13-year-old girl was released to her mother at the scene and the 3-year-old boy was released to his mother at the Second Precinct, police said.