Cops: Father arrested for DWI with baby

On the first anniversary of Leandra's Law going into effect in New York, Nassau Police arrested a Hempstead man and charged him with drunken driving with a child in the car.

Gabriel Rodriguez, 28, was driving his 2002 Dodge Neon erratically Sunday morning with his 1-year-old daughter in the car when he was stopped by Nassau Police.

Rodriguez failed a roadside sobriety test and was arrested and charged with felony aggravated driving while intoxicated, misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, endangering the welfare of a minor and several traffic violations, Officer James Imperiale said.

Rodriguez's daughter, who was not properly secured in a car seat, was released to her mother, Imperiale said. Neither she nor Rodriguez were injured. Rodriguez is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Gov. David A. Paterson signed Leandra's Law in November 2009, making it a felony to drive drunk in New York with a child younger than 15 in the vehicle. The law was named after an 11-year-old Manhattan girl killed in an October 2009 DWI accident on the West Side Highway.