Motorist accused in second DWI, a hit-and-run

A Mastic woman accused of being drunk while wrong-way driving on an expressway last spring now faces charges in an alcohol-fueled hit-and-run in Bellport, police said Friday.

Jacqueline Vaughan-Moscatiello, 46, who pleaded guilty in the June wrong-way driving incident, was driving near Station Road and Montauk Highway about 4:25 p.m. when she hit a Ford Explorer and fled, police said. Officers responding to the crash stopped her a short distance away.

Vaughan-Moscatiello was arrested and charged with felony drunken driving, aggravated unlicensed operation and leaving the scene of an accident.

The driver of the Explorer was taken to an East Patchogue hospital for treatment of head and neck injuries, police said. Vaughan-Moscatiello was also taken to the hospital after complaining of chest pains. Her scheduled Friday arraignment was postponed.

On June 16, Vaughan-Moscatiello was at the wheel of a 2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara at 12:55 a.m. when she passed a Suffolk County sheriff's deputy parked next to the Long Island Expressway in Holbrook.

The deputy said she was headed east in the westbound lanes when she crossed all three lanes and entered the HOV lane. She initially ignored the deputy's lights and sirens but pulled over a short distance away, according to a sheriff spokesman.

Vaughan-Moscatiello later pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and was sentenced on Oct. 14 to three years of probation and a fine of $750. Her driver's license was also revoked.

Following several wrong-way drunken-driving arrests in recent months on Long Island, state transportation officials have begun inspecting hundreds of highway entrances and exits across Long Island.

A Moscatiello family member said she does not have an attorney and declined to comment further.

With Stacey Altherr