Cops: Driver on meds struck, killed woman

A Medford woman standing with her mother behind a car parked along Horseblock Road was struck and killed Saturday by a motorist driving while under the influence of prescription drugs, Suffolk police said.

Maria Galeas, 40, was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Galeas' 4-year-old daughter, sitting inside the parked car in a child's car seat, and her 62-year-old mother were not injured, police said.

Police arrested the driver, Elizabeth Peacock, 45, of 2501 Knickerbocker Ave. in Medford, and charged her with driving while ability impaired by drugs. Police did not say whether the prescription drugs were legally obtained. Peacock was scheduled to be arraigned Sunday.

The accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. on Horseblock Road, about a quarter-mile east of Maine Avenue, police said.

At the time of the crash, police said, Galeas and her mother were putting a laundry cart into the car's trunk. Police did not know if the women were doing laundry or loading an empty cart.