Police: Westbury man drove drunk with child in vehicle
A Westbury man was charged with felony drunken driving after police found he was driving while intoxicated with his 7-month-old daughter in the backseat.
Nassau County police said officers saw a northbound 2006 Toyota driving erratically on Peninsula Boulevard in Hempstead at about 3:08 a.m. Saturday. Police said they pulled over the vehicle and found the driver, Juan Aristires Alvarenga Ortiz, 34, of 716 Broadway, Westbury, to be intoxicated.
Police said Ortiz’s daughter was strapped into a car seat in the backseat.
Leandra’s Law makes it a felony to drive impaired with a passenger under age 16, even on first offense. The legislation is named for Leandra Rosado, 11, who was killed when the minivan she was riding in — driven by a drunken driver — overturned on Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan in 2009.
Ortiz’s daughter was released to her mother, 26, who was in the front seat of the vehicle, which was impounded. No one was injured.
Ortiz was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a child, driving while intoxicated and a number of other traffic law violations, police said.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Sunday.
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