Massapequa man faces Leandra's Law charge

A Massapequa man was arrested Wednesday evening in Amityville and charged with drunken driving under Leandra's Law after officers found his 4-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in the car, police said.

The stop -- and arrest -- were made after Amityville police received a tip that David Hager, Jr. 26, was with his children in the 2005 Dodge Caravan and that he "might be intoxicated." Suffolk County police said an Amityville police officer stopped the Caravan at 8:25 p.m. near the intersection of Ketcham Avenue and Orchard Street, found the children in the vehicle and determined that Hager was intoxicated.

Police did not disclose details about the call that alerted officers to the incident.

Hager was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony, even on first offense, to drive drunk with a child 15 years or younger in the car. The law is named for Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan on Oct. 11, 2009, when her friend's mother, Carmen Huertas, flipped the minivan they were in while under the influence of alcohol. Six other children were injured in the incident.

Police said Hager also was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip.