Deer Park man charged with drunken driving with 5-year-old in car

A motorist who failed to signal and stay in his lane was arrested during a traffic stop in East Meadow Monday after officers found him driving while impaired with a 5-year-old passenger, Nassau police said.

Officers saw the girl in the back and a female passenger in the front after pulling over James J. Calabrese, 38, of Deer Park, on westbound Hempstead Turnpike about 4:45 a.m., police said.

Three packets of suboxone, a drug used to treat opiate addiction, were found in his Suzuki, which was impounded, police said.

Calabrese, of 45 Livingston St., was charged with driving while ability impaired, aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, three counts of first-degree aggravated unlicensed driving, two counts of third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, operation of a vehicle without interlock court order and three traffic violations. Leandra's Law makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child under 16 years of age.

A police spokeswoman said she did not know if Calabrese was charged with DWI because of drugs or alcohol, and did not know if the suboxone was prescribed.

Information on the court order for the ignition interlock device was also not available, the spokeswoman said. Judges often order interlock devices to be installed in vehicles of DWI drivers as part of their sentences. They test drivers' breath for alcohol and prevent the engine from starting if the blood-alcohol level rises above the programmed concentration.

Calabrese is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday in First District Court in Hempstead.

According to court records, Calabrese was arrested in October 2007 on a charge of aggravated DWI and had his license suspended for a year. He was also sentenced to time served and 1 year's probation and fined $1,000, court records show.

Then in April 2008, he was arrested on a felony charge, operating a motor vehicle with at least an .08 percent blood-alcohol level and with a prior conviction, court records show. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, had his license suspended for a year, was fined $1,000 and given 1 year's probation.