Police: Wrong-way drunken driver arrested on Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway

An East Rockaway woman was arrested early Friday after officers had to force her to stop driving the wrong way on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway in Bethpage, police said.

The incident occurred at 12:45 a.m., Nassau County police said.

The driver, identified as Maureen Hamilton, 58, of 41 Wellfleet Rd., was charged with driving while intoxicated, second-degree reckless endangerment, aggravated driving while intoxicated and with driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

Hamilton was released on her own recognizance at her arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead. She is due back in court Dec. 18. Her attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.

Police said officers responding to "numerous 911 calls" reporting a vehicle headed southbound in the northbound lanes of the expressway located Hamilton's vehicle -- and then "were forced to engage the vehicle head-on," bringing it to a stop between exits 8 and 7.

An investigation determined there were no accidents as a result of Hamilton's actions.

With Ellen Yan

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.”