Police: Patchogue Man Charged With DWI With 5-Year-Old In Car

A Patchogue man was arrested Sunday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated with a five-year-old child in his vehicle, Suffolk County Police said.

Police say Jose E. Amaya, 29, was driving a 2003 Nissan eastbound on Montauk Highway near Lenox Avenue in East Patchogue when officer Anthony Dieguez from the Highway Patrol Bureau observed Amaya’s vehicle driving erratically and crossing over the double yellow line in the center of the road around 12:35 a.m. Dieguez stopped the vehicle and discovered a five-year-old boy sleeping in a child booster seat in the back of the vehicle, police said.

Police say the officer determined that Amaya was driving while intoxicated and placed him under arrest. Amaya was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger 15-years-old or younger (Leandra’s Law), endangering the welfare of a child, felony driving while intoxicated with a prior DWI conviction, felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, false personation, criminal contempt in the second degree and several traffic violations.