Police: Atlantic Beach man charged with driving while on drugs

An Atlantic Beach man faces a felony charge of driving under the influence of drugs after weaving out of his lane and onto the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway in North Merrick Friday, State Police said.

At about 12:56 p.m., a black Chevrolet Impala driven by Robert Kozak, 33, of 114 Coronado St., left its traffic lane and went onto the shoulder, according to a police report.

Stopped by a trooper, Kozak's car appeared to have a strong odor of marijuana. In addition, Kozak had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech and could not maintain his balance, police said.

Kozak failed sobriety tests and was arrested, police said. A search of the vehicle yielded four white pills police identified as clonazepam, an anti-seizure medicine, two pills identified as alprazolam, an antidepressant, and another pill identified as methadone.

Kozak is charged with three counts of driving while his ability was impaired by drugs, three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and three counts of having a public health law prescription in a non-original container.

The impairment charge is a felony because Kozak has a previous conviction for driving while impaired in the last 10 years, police said.

Arraignment information was not immediately available.