Cops: Patchogue woman drove drunk, crashed with 2 kids in car, then fled

A Patchogue woman was arrested and charged with drunken driving under Leandra's Law after she was involved in a hit-and-run collision Wednesday with her two young children in the car, Suffolk County police said.

Brooke Wirshup, 27, of Edwards Street, was arrested during a traffic stop in Shirley about 15 minutes after the 2:45 p.m. crash and was charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, police said.

Wirshup was arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip where a temporary order of protection was issued, according to an online court record. 

Police said the two children, ages 3 and 17 months, were not injured and were released to the custody of a relative at the arrest scene.

Police said Wirshup was driving her 2018 Hyundai Elantra with her children in the car when she rear-ended another vehicle on William Floyd Parkway, at the intersection with Dawn Drive in Shirley. Wirshup drove off after the crash, police said.

But Seventh Precinct Officer Michelle Speed spotted Wirshup and the Elantra near the intersection of Revilo Avenue and Victory Avenue in Shirley about 20 minutes later and, approaching the vehicle, spotted the two young children in the car, police said. She then arrested Wirshup.

Leandra's Law, enacted in November 2009, makes it a felony, on first offense, to drive drunk with a passenger under age 16 in the vehicle. It is named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed when the car she was riding in, driven by a drunken driver, crashed on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan in October 2009. Six other girls, all attending a sleepover party, were injured in the crash.

The driver, Carmen Huertas, later pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”