Politics & Government

Suffolk Cops Pledge Drunken Boating, Driving Crackdown Memorial Day Weekend

Police to set up checkpoints along roads, waterways.

Suffolk County police plan to get tough during Memorial Day weekend, stepping up patrols of roads and waterways to arrest those who endanger lives by driving or boating drunk.

According to the police department, all seven Suffolk precincts, the county's highway patrol and its marine bureau will set up checkpoints along roadways and in county waters. At the same time, police will also be patrolling downtown and shopping areas across the county.

“Our officers are highly trained to recognize the signs of intoxicated drivers,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber said in a statement. “Officers will be targeting those under the influence who are driving vehicles as well as those operating boats.”

While the dangers of boating or driving after drinking an intoxicating amount of alcohol are at this point widely known across the region, it has not stemmed the crime, proven by the hundreds of DWI arrests in the police blotters of Patch and other media outlets.

At the same time, communities and families often have been left to grieve the loss of loved ones killed in drugged or drunken driving accidents.

Recently, the Nassau County district attorney escalated charges against a Suffolk man alleged to have killed Nassau police officer Joseph Olivieri after driving drunk on the Long Island Expressway and causing the fatal chain-reaction wreck.

The dangers of drunk driving have also spilled into Long Island waterways. Last summer, a West Islip man died in a boating accident after his vessel was rammed by another boat piloted by a drunken Brian Andreski, a 26-year-old Dix Hills man who on Friday was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for his crime.

“Too many lives are lost each year due to drinking and driving,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said. “Suffolk police will be taking a zero-tolerance approach with those who drink and get behind the wheel.”


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