Man charged with DWI had 2-year-old, 4-year-old in car, police say

A Huntington Station man was arrested early Wednesday and charged with drunken driving under Leandra's Law after, Suffolk County police said, the patrol officer making a traffic stop discovered he had his 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son in the car.

Police said Miguel Cruz, 25, of First Avenue, was arrested and charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law after his 2012 Nissan Rogue was stopped on southbound New York Avenue near Depot Road in Huntington Station at 12:45 a.m. The stop was for a speeding violation and for failure to maintain a lane of travel, police said. He also had his 25-year-old girlfriend and his 16-year-old brother in the car.

After his arrest, the children were released into the custody of Cruz's girlfriend, police said. No one was injured.

Cruz is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip. No defense attorney information was available.

Leandra's Law is named for Leandra Rosado, who was 11 years old when she was killed in a drunken driving crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City on Oct. 11, 2009. Six other children, who all were attending a sleepover party, were injured in the crash, which police said happened when the driver, Carmen Huertas, lost control of the vehicle at high speed and flipped the car. The law makes it a felony, even on first offense, to drive drunk with a passenger younger than age 16 in the vehicle.

Huertas later pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison in 2010.

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.”