Driver who hit man, child on Syosset sidewalk admits DWI

A 37-year-old Syosset man has pleaded guilty to driving drunk onto a residential sidewalk last May, striking a man and the man's 3-year-old niece in broad daylight.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said Varun Datt pleaded guilty Thursday before Judge Caryn Fink and now faces sentencing June 30.

Datt had been charged with aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated. He is expected to be sentenced to 3-to-9 years in prison.

Datt's attorney, John Powers of West Islip, said: "We’re waiting for the sentencing date before we have any further comment on the case due to the fact that the case is not officially over."

The incident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. on May 31 when authorities said Datt, driving while intoxicated, veered onto the wrong side of a residential street in Syosset and his car jumped the curb, careened onto the sidewalk, struck the victim and his niece, then crashed head-on into a parked car. The child was transported to Cohen Children's Medical Center and treated for abrasions and trauma. Authorities said the adult victim was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where he was treated for "extensive injuries" — including a tear in his knee that required that he use a wheelchair for six weeks.

Nassau County police said responding officers found Datt, still behind the wheel, with empty bottles of rum and vodka in the car. Police said Datt's sweatshirt contained "one full bottle of whiskey and two empty bottles."

“With empty alcohol bottles scattered about his vehicle — and another full bottle in his sweatshirt — this defendant jumped a curb in broad daylight while highly intoxicated, terrorizing a residential area and striking a man and 3-year-old child,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Because of the male victim’s quick thinking to shield his young niece, she suffered only minor physical injuries. This case is another truly egregious example of the danger drunk driving poses to the safety of our communities.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

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.”