Cops: Driver violated Leandra's Law in Southampton

A Brooklyn man violated Leandra's Law Sunday in Southampton when he drove drunk and crashed his van with a 10-year-old boy as one of his eight passengers, State Police said.

Enrique Matute, 47, faces felony drunken driving charges after his arrest at about 9:05 a.m. on County Road 39, west of Shrubland Road, police said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at Southampton Town Justice Court.

Police said Matute, driving a 2006 GMC van, failed to yield the right of way as he made a U-turn on County Road 39 and struck a vehicle traveling east on the roadway.

Troopers responding to the accident said Matute "showed signs of intoxication and was subsequently arrested for DWI," according to a news release.

A police spokesman Monday did not know the relationship between the boy and Matute. There were no injuries, police said.

Matute, who has two prior drunken driving convictions in the last 10 years, is charged with aggravated DWI, a felony under Leandra's Law; felony DWI, because of his previous convictions; endangering the welfare of a child; and several traffic violations, police said.

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Under Leandra's Law, driving drunk with a passenger age 15 or younger is a felony. The law was passed in 2009 after Leandra Rosado, 11, was killed in a DWI accident after the minivan in which she was a passenger crashed in Manhattan.