A Riverhead man was charged with felony driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law late Saturday night, Riverhead Police said in a press release Sunday morning.
A patrol officer stopped a 2012 Honda Accord being operated erratically on East Main Street at about 11:46 p.m. last night, and after an investigation determined that the operator was intoxicated and a passenger in the vehicle was 13 years old, according to the press release.
Police arrested Alvaro I. Uyu Puluc, 31, of Riverhead, on a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated in violation of Leandra’s Law.
Leandra’s Law, also known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, was enacted in 2009, is named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, of the Bronx, who was killed in October 2009 in a crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan. Leandra was one of seven children in the vehicle operated by a drunk driver. The operator of the vehicle was subsequently convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison.
Anyone charged with DWI or driving while impaired with a passenger under age 16 is automatically charged with a Class E Felony, a crime punishable by 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison.
Uyu Puluc was held overnight for morning arraignment in Riverhead Town Justice Court, police said.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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