Charged with DWI, man now accused of arson

A Huntington Station man already charged with drunken driving was accused Wednesday of setting fire to a house in East Northport earlier this month, Suffolk County police said.

Arson squad detectives determined that Aaron Tarkin, 25, had started a fire at 725 Glenridge Lane, on Feb. 13 at 11:41 p.m., police said.

Tarkin was charged with second degree arson and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip.

According to Suffolk police, he had been stopped Tuesday at about 1 p.m. in Huntington Station for driving a car erratically with two children as passengers. Inside the 2003 Hyundai with Tarkin were a friend's two sons, aged 5 and 8, whom he was taking to lunch, police said.

Second Squad detectives charged Tarkin under Leandra's Law -- aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child -- plus unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, operating a motor vehicle without an interlock device, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and criminal possession of a hypodermic needle.