Crime and courts briefs

CENTRAL ISLIP

Cops: Vehicle in fatal

hit-run is late-model Jeep

Investigators now believe a silver or gray 2014 or 2015 Jeep -- either a Cherokee, Limited or Sport Latitude edition -- is the type and style of vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run crash early Sunday on Motor Parkway in Central Islip.

Suffolk County police said yesterday the vehicle "sustained damage to the passenger side headlight and passenger side view mirror."

Investigators urge anyone with information about the driver, the vehicle or the crash to call Vehicular Crime Unit detectives at 631-852-6555 -- or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential, police said.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Highland Road at 4:50 a.m. Sunday. Police said Lorenzo Fuentes, 64, of Central Islip, was walking along Motor Parkway when he was struck by the eastbound vehicle, which then fled. Fuentes died at the scene.

Police initially described the vehicle as a silver-metallic late-model Dodge or Chrysler with damage to the front and passenger side. The description was updated based on evidence recovered from the crash scene, between Calebs Path and Church Drive. Family said Fuentes was walking to a bus stop on his way to work at a factory where he produced metal objects.

A married father of seven children, Fuentes also was a grandfather and held several jobs, his niece, Sandra Fuentes said. Among those jobs, Fuentes worked at Hyde Park Mouldings in Hauppauge.

BRENTWOODCabdriver falls asleep,

crashes into auto shop

A cabdriver who fell asleep at the wheel crashed into a Brentwood vehicle repair shop early yesterday, Suffolk County police said.

The driver was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore with minor injuries, a department spokeswoman said.

The cab hit the front portion of Eastern Wheel Alignment on Wicks Road about 1 a.m., the spokeswoman said.

No charges were filed, she said.

PLAINVIEWMom faces felony

Leandra's Law charge

A Patchogue woman violated Leandra's Law early yesterday when she was driving drunk on the Long Island Expressway with her 2-year-old daughter as a passenger, Nassau County police said.

Highway Patrol officers stopped Tiffany Alicea, 28, of 151 Maple Ave., for speeding in a Dodge sport utility vehicle on the eastbound LIE in Plainview about 1:20 a.m., according to a news release.

Officers determined during the traffic stop that Alicea was intoxicated and arrested her, police said. Alicea's daughter was taken from the scene by her father, police said.

Alicea was arraigned yesterday on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated, a felony under Leandra's Law; endangering the welfare of a child; driving while intoxicated; two counts of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; driving with a suspended registration; and multiple traffic violations, police said.

She was held pending a bail of $7,000 bond or $3,500 cash and her license suspended. She was represented by Legal Aid, which does not comment on cases.

Under Leandra's Law, driving drunk with a passenger age 15 or younger is a felony. The law was passed in 2009 after Leandra Rosado, 11, was killed in an DWI accident after the minivan in which she was a passenger crashed in Manhattan.