Police: Brooklyn man asleep at wheel faces gun, DWI charges

A Brooklyn man found asleep behind the wheel of his car while parked at a Levittown gas station early Saturday was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a weapon, Nassau County police said.

A call was made to police at about 2:30 a.m. about a 2017 black Nissan Maxima seen driving erratically eastbound on Old Jerusalem Road in Levittown, police said in a news release. Officers from the Second Precinct responded to the scene and found the vehicle stopped at a gas station at Wantagh Avenue and Old Jerusalem Road, police said, with the driver asleep in the driver’s seat.

After several attempts to awaken him, officers observed the man with glassy, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, police said.

Efrain Rivera, 35, of Weirfield Street, was arrested at the scene, police said. Officers then found inside the vehicle “a loaded North American Arms .22 caliber mini revolver and two clear bags of a greenish brown leafy substance believed to be marijuana,” police said.

Rivera is charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana and driving while intoxicated, police said.

Rivera was scheduled to be arraigned on Saturday at First District Court in Hempstead. Attorney information for Rivera was not immediately available.