Suffolk sheriffs make Leandra's Law arrest on LIE

Suffolk deputy sheriffs responding to a call of a possible abduction on the Long Island Expressway Monday wound up arresting a 29-year-old Riverhead man under Leandra's Law, authorities said.

A 2-year-old and an 11-year-old were in a 2000 Ford van stopped by sheriffs on the westbound LIE at Exit 64 in Medford.

The driver of the van, Fernando Lobato-Munoz, was determined to be drunk, authorities said. He was arrested and charged with felony aggravated driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operator and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, sheriffs said.

He was charged under Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony to drive while intoxicated with anyone under 15 years old in the vehicle. The law was passed in November following the death of Leandra Rosado, 11, who was killed in an alleged DWI accident after the minivan in which she was a passenger crashed on the West Side Highway.

Sheriffs responded to a 911 call made by a parent of one of the passengers, who was in the car at the time.

They arrived to find Munoz and his girlfriend "engaged in an argument in the front seat," authorities said in a Monday news release.

Breath tests "revealed a BAC of .10," sheriffs said.

Munoz was to be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Central Islip.

A domestic incident report also was filed, authorities said.