Lindy Man Found Guilty Of Third DWI In 7 Years, Crashed Into Pole: DA

COPIAGUE, NY — A Lindenhurst man was found guilty by a jury on Friday, for driving while drunk with a revoked license and crashing into a utility pole, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced

Robert Kloska, 54, was convicted after a trial before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Richard I. Horowitz, for the crimes of driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, prosecutors said.

On Nov. 17, 2021, at about 11:20 p.m., Kloska was driving an orange 1968 Dodge Dart near the corner of Straight Path and 35th Street in Copiague when he crashed into a utility pole, according to the investigation and evidence presented during the trial.

Kloska got out of his vehicle and walked away from the scene of the accident, but was later found by law enforcement in the parking lot of a shopping center across the street from where the crash occurred, prosecutors said.

When police spoke with Kloska, he admitted to drinking two beers. However, he quickly became combative, yelled profanities, and refused to submit to any standardized field sobriety tests when asked. In addition to his behavior, officers said Kloska exhibited signs of intoxication such as bloodshot and glassy eyes, slurred speech, unsteadiness on his feet, and an odor of alcohol emanating from his breath.

He was arrested and transported to the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Precinct, where he refused to submit to a chemical test of his breath and continued to yell profanities and racial slurs at the officers, prosecutors said.

During the course of their investigation, the officers discovered Kloska’s license was revoked at the time he was driving for one prior driving while intoxicated conviction, as well as for previously refusing to submit to a chemical test relating to a prior driving while intoxicated arrest.

On Nov. 10, 2021 — only one week prior to his arrest in Suffolk County — Kloska had been convicted of driving while intoxicated, in Nassau County, and was sentenced to conditional discharge and a license revocation, prosecutors said.

He had also previously been convicted of driving while intoxicated in Southold Town Court on Jan. 8, 2016, and was sentenced to three years of probation.

“This defendant’s continuous and selfish disregard for the safety of other drivers and pedestrians
is shocking. Unfortunately, in New York State, the current bail laws regarding drunk driving do
not allow for prosecutors to ask for bail no matter how many prior DWIs a defendant has been
convicted of,” said Tierney. “Repeat drunk drivers like this defendant this are a prime example of why we must reform our laws, so defendants cannot continue to get released after a DWI arrest and get right back behind the wheel of a car to wreak havoc both here in Suffolk County and across the state.”

Kloska was remanded and is due back in court for sentencing on Aug. 24, where he faces up to seven years in prison, Tierney's office said.

Patch could not reach Colin Astarita, Kloska's lawyer, for comment.