A Southold woman was charged with felony DWI under Leandra’s Law last night on Cross River Drive in Riverhead, Riverhead Police said in a press release overnight.
Officers responding to a report of a disabled motor vehicle on Cross River Drive near Hubbard Avenue last night at 10:44 p.m. Police located the vehicle, a 2021 Kia sedan and, after an investigation, determined its operator to be intoxicated, according to the press release. There were two children, ages 6 and 8, in the vehicle at the time, police said.
Police arrested Monique J. Smith, 29, with felony Driving While Intoxicated in violation of Leandra’s Law, which makes it a felony to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated with passengers under the age of 16, according to the report.
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.
Smith was also charged with two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, police said.
Smith was taken to the Riverhead Police Department Headquarters, where she was processed and held for morning arraignment, 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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