Cops: Driver from N.J. charged with DWI after Syosset crash
A New Jersey man was arrested Tuesday and charged with driving while intoxicated after an early morning crash in Syosset that injured both he and his passenger, Nassau police said.
Police identified the driver as Jeffrey Rausa, 43, of Bayville, N.J., and said he was charged with DWI, as well as with second-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment. Rausa was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.
A passenger in the car, identified only as a 32-year-old man from New Jersey, also was hospitalized for treatment of a minor wrist injury, police said.
The two men were headed southwest on Woodbury Road when Rausa lost control of the vehicle and struck a utility pole, knocking it down, before the vehicle came to rest in a ditch, police said.
The crash occurred at 12:25 a.m., police said. Police said Rausa faces bedside arraignment as soon as is practical.
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.”
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