Wrong-way LIE driver was on drugs, police say

A New Jersey man who drove the wrong way on the Long Island Expressway in Shirley was arrested early Tuesday morning and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, police said.

Andrew Haber, 54, of Edgewater, was driving a 2017 Lincoln sedan west on the east side of the LIE near Exit 70, for County Route 111, around 12:15 a.m., Suffolk County police said in a news release.

Other motorists spotted the wrong-way driver and called 911, police said.

Within five minutes of the calls, Suffolk County highway patrol officers pulled the car over between Exit 68 and Exit 69, police said.

Haber was taken into custody, police said. In addition to driving while ability impaired by drugs, he was also charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Police did not say what drugs Haber had taken.

Haber, who was held at the Seventh Precinct, was arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday. He was held on bail of $2,000 bond or $1,000 cash, according to online court records. His next court appearance is Monday.