Cops: Wrong-way driver on LIE was drunk

A wrong-way drunken driver on the Long Island Expressway was arrested early Sunday morning after Suffolk sheriff's deputies boxed him in and forced him to stop, officials said.

Chief Deputy Kerry Kneitel said his department received three calls from drivers, starting at 2:38 a.m., reporting that a blue sport utility vehicle was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway at Exit 68 near Yaphank.

Eric Jones, 20, of Riverhead, was driving a Nissan Pathfinder about 50 mph east in the westbound lanes, Kneitel said.

"He couldn't maintain a lane and he wouldn't stop," Kneitel said.

Deputies in three patrol cars drove alongside Jones, boxing his car in and forcing him to come to a stop between exits 70 and 71 near Manorville at 2:45 a.m., he said. Officials estimate he traveled more than 3 miles before being stopped.

Kneitel said a breath test showed that Jones had a blood-alcohol content more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

Jones was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI, reckless driving and unsafe lane change. He told deputies that he did not know when he got on the expressway or how he ended up going the wrong way, Kneitel said.

Kneitel said Jones did not collide with anyone.

Jones, who could not be reached, was arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip Sunday afternoon and ordered held on $5,000 cash bail or $15,000 bond.

His arrest follows several cases involving wrong-way drivers on Long Island in recent months. In May, Suffolk police said a wrong-way drunken driver collided with an off-duty East Hampton police officer, seriously injuring the officer and the driver.

There have been more than 20 wrong-way driving cases in Nassau and Suffolk counties since November, prompting Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) to sponsor a bill to increase the penalty for wrong-way driving to a felony. That bill passed the Senate in March, and is now in the Assembly.