Man charged with DWI in pedestrian death

A Central Islip man is facing child endangerment and felony drunken driving charges after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his kid brother in the car, police said.

Leonard Hoppie, 20, of Brightside Avenue, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated DWI under Leandra's Law and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

He was arraigned Wednesday before Judge Dennis Cohen in First District Court in Central Islip, where he was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond.

His 10-year-old brother was sent home with a family member, police said.

Defense attorney John Loturco asked that Hoppie be released on his own recognizance because he had no criminal record.

Hoppie claimed a man in a black hoodie stepped in front of his minivan as he turned a corner and he thought his car mirror struck someone, Loturco said.

Police said Hoppie was driving the family's 1999 Plymouth Voyager north on Cordello Avenue about 10:15 p.m. when he hit the man. He also hit two parked vehicles, according to the arrest report.

Leandra's Law is named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed in a 2009 crash when her friend's mother, Carmen Huertas, overturned the van they were in while driving drunk on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan. Six other children were injured.

The law makes it a felony for anyone to drive while intoxicated with a passenger 15 or younger in the car.