SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE LEANDRA’S LAW DWI ARREST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: December 20, 2023

SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE LEANDRA’S LAW DWI ARREST

*****Intoxicated Driver with Three Children in the Car*****

Franklin Marquez Sarmiento

(ISLIP, NY) On 12/17/2023 at approximately 3:05 A.M., Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs stopped a car on Sunrise Highway in Islip, NY, for failure to maintain lane. The driver, Franklin Marquez Sarmiento, 33, of Patchogue, NY, demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. 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. Marquez Sarmiento was arrested for three counts Aggravated DWI (Leandra’s Law) and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. 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.

Leandra’s Law (the Child Passenger Protection Act) is a NYS law making it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person age 15 or younger inside the vehicle. It 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 accident, driven by a driver who was allegedly driving while intoxicated.

This arrest was one of four arrests for DWI over the weekend. Also arrested for Driving while intoxicated were:

Emmanuel Hernandez, 31, of Cedarhurst, NY – Driving While Intoxicated

Brijendrasinh Vanar, 25, of Brentwood, NY – Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated

Luis Barrera Ordonez, 39, of Hicksville, NY – Driving While Intoxicated

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. commends his deputies. “Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs are out patrolling our county’s roads to keep the public safe this holiday season. 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. Sheriff Toulon reminds you, “Stay alive- Don’t drink and drive!”

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