Cops: Baldwin man faces Leandra's Law charge

A Baldwin man faces a Leandra's Law charge after he was caught early Sunday driving on the Southern State Parkway with a child in the car and a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, State Police said Monday.

Marcos Espinal, 34, was traveling with a 5-year-old child in his Acura at 3 a.m. when state troopers saw him "moving in and out" of a lane on the westbound Southern State near the Meadowbrook Parkway, in North Merrick, police said in a news release.

Troopers pulled over Espinal and "detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage," police said.

The driver failed sobriety tests, police said. He produced a breath sample of .22 percent blood-alcohol content, police said. The legal limit is .08 percent.

Espinal was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, a class E felony. He also was charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated unlicensed operation in the second degree, police said.

Police did not reveal the child's relationship to the driver. Espinal is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Hempstead at a future date, police said.