Shirley Man Drove Drunk On Long Island Expressway With 6-Year-Old In Vehicle: Sheriff

BROOKHAVEN, NY — A Shirley man has been charged under Leandra's Law after being caught drunken driving with a minor in his vehicle on the Long Island Expressway in Brookhaven early Saturday morning, the Suffolk sheriff's office said Monday.

Matthew Bunai, 28, of Shirley, was stopped just before 1 a.m. for speeding, failure to maintain a lane of travel and use directional signals, and for displaying a partially unreadable and expired license plate, according to the sheriff's office.

Bunai was showing "clues" while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated, the sheriff's office said, adding that there was a six-year-old child in the rear seat behind his driver seat.

Bunai was taken to the sheriff's office's headquarters in Riverside where he submitted to a chemical blood test and results are pending with Suffolk's crime laboratory, the sheriff's office said.

His vehicle was impounded and he was charged with aggravated DWI with a child, a felony, endangering the welfare of a child, and various traffic violations, according to the sheriff's office.

Leandra's Law is a state law making it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person aged 15 or younger inside a vehicle.

It was named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway on Oct. 11, 2009, as the passenger in a car, which was driven by a driver who was allegedly driving while intoxicated and then was involved in a crash.

Also arrested for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated over the weekend were:

• A 42-year-old Brentwood man was charged with aggravated DWI. He had a .19 Blood Alcohol Content level.
• A 24-year-old Patchogue man was charged with DWI. He had a .16 BAC.
• A 61-year-old Shoreham woman was charged with DWI. She had a .17 BAC.
• Kayla Horsley, 27, of Riverhead, arrested for DWI. She had a .12 BAC.

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. commended his deputies.

“Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs are out patrolling our county’s roads to keep the public safe," he said. "This weekend, they not only prevented five intoxicated drivers from causing an accident with another driver or a pedestrian, but they potentially saved the life of a child passenger. I am proud of their ongoing vigilance in protecting the residents of Suffolk County.”