LI Woman Sentenced For Driving Into Elderly Couple While Drunk

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A Massapequa woman was sentenced to more than seven years in prison today for injuring an elderly couple while she was driving drunk last year.

Joanne Dooher, 51, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for hitting an elderly couple with her car in 2020. Dooher pleaded guilty on July 20 to aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, third-degree assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

“Joanne Dooher was driving while grossly intoxicated – nearly three times the .08 threshold – and struck two elderly pedestrians who were simply trying to cross over Merrick Road,” said Acting Nassau District Attorney Joyce Smith. “The innocent victims of this criminal driving will suffer the effects of the serious injuries they received for the rest of their lives. NCDA is committed to prosecuting the drunk, drugged, and reckless drivers who continue to endanger innocent people.”

According to Smith, around 6:30 p.m. on July 31, 2020, Dooher was driving on Merrick Road in Massapequa with a blood-alcohol level of .22. She hit a 93-year-old man and an 86-year-old woman as they were crossing the road. They both suffered serious injuries, including breaking the woman's pelvis.