East Hampton man faces Leandra's Law charge, police say
An East Hampton man, traveling with his 6-year-old child in his car, was arrested over the weekend in Bridgehampton and charged with drunken driving under Leandra's Law, State Police said Monday.
Flavio Pena-Vallejo, 42, of Maidstone Avenue, was arrested Saturday after a stop for an unsafe lane change on Montauk Highway, east of Ocean Road, at 11:35 p.m., police said.
During the interview, police said troopers found Pena-Vallejo exhibited "signs of intoxication" -- and said the man later failed roadside sobriety tests.
Pena-Vallejo was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child and was issued traffic citations.
Leandra's Law makes it a felony, even on first offense, to drive drunk with a person who is 15 years or younger in the vehicle.
The law is named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed in October 2009 when the car she was traveling in, driven by a drunken driver, overturned on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan.
Arraignment details for Pena-Vallejo were not immediately available Monday. The child, whose identity was withheld, was released to a family member, police said, and was unharmed.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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