Probe of whether girl was properly secured in car

Nassau police are investigating whether a 5-year-old girl ejected from a car that was hit by an alleged drunken driver in Franklin Square was properly secured in her seat at the time of the accident.

The girl suffered facial lacerations but was not seriously injured after she was thrown through the rear window of the car when it spun out of control on Tuesday, Nassau police said Wednesday.

Police are trying to determine whether the child was wearing a seat belt, whether she slipped out of a seat belt, and whether she had been restrained in the manner her age requires.

"Based on the fact that she was ejected, it is likely that she was not [properly] restrained,” said Nassau Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone. “Had she been secured, she wouldn’t have been ejected.”

The crash happened at 2:55 p.m. at Hempstead Turnpike and Claflin Boulevard. Police said Kevin Roberts, 60, tried to turn a 2000 Oldsmobile left onto Claflin from westbound Hempstead Turnpike in front of an eastbound Toyota, but struck the Toyota.

The 2000 Toyota Avalon, which had five people in it, then struck a 2010 Honda and a utility pole. The girl was thrown from her middle rear seat in the Toyota through its rear window.

Repalone said the girl sustained what police called “non-life-threatening injuries.”

Roberts, of 35 Jefferson St., Franklin Square, was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, reckless driving and aggravated driving while intoxicated, police said.

Roberts was arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead.