LI Man Drove Drunk With 3 Kids In His Car: Sheriff

ISLIP, NY — A Patchogue man was arrested early Sunday after he drove drunk with three kids in his vehicle, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon said.

According to the sheriff, the incident took place at 3:05 a.m. when Franklin Marquez Sarmiento, 33, was stopped on Sunrise Highway in Islip by Suffolk County deputy sheriffs for failing to maintain his lane.

Marquez Sarmiento demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated, the sheriff said.

There was a 15-year-old child in the front passenger seat and a 13-year-old child and 4-year-old child in the rear passenger seats, Toulon said.

Marquez Sarmiento was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated DWI (Leandra’s Law) and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Toulon said.

He was transported to the Sheriff’s Office headquarters bureau where he submitted to a chemical blood test; the blood was then transported to the Suffolk County crime lab and is pending analysis, Toulon said.

Leandra’s Law is legislation that makes it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person age 15 or younger inside the vehicle; the law was named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway on October 11, 2009, when she was the passenger in a car crash with a driver who was intoxicated, Toulon said.

"Suffolk County deputy sheriffs are out patrolling our county’s roads to keep the public safe this holiday season," Toulon said. "This past weekend, they not only prevented intoxicated drivers from causing an accident with another driver or a pedestrian, but they potentially saved the life of three young passengers. I am proud of their ongoing vigilance in protecting the residents of Suffolk County."

The Suffolk County sheriff’s office will be conducting increased DWI patrols and traffic stops over the holiday season, Toulon reminded. "Stay alive," Toulon said. "Don’t drink and drive."