Sayville man in 2011 boating crash charged with boating while intoxicated

A Sayville man was charged with boating while intoxicated early Sunday in the Great South Bay by the same officer who charged him with the same offense after a 2011 boat crash, Suffolk police said.

Suffolk County police identified the suspect as Joseph Leon, 59, of 80 Willow St. He was held on $2,000 cash bail or $4,000 bond after arraignment Sunday in First District Court in Central Islip.

Police said Marine Patrol officers John Mullins III and John Sheehan were patrolling in dark waters of the Great South Bay a half-mile northeast of Cherry Grove shortly before 2:30 a.m. when they spotted Leon operating a 38-foot Silverton cabin cruiser with the boat's navigational lights off.

It was determined that Leon was intoxicated and he was apprehended and held overnight at the Third Precinct pending his arraignment, police said.

Mullins arrested Leon in connection with a June 20, 2011, boat accident, police said. In that incident, Leon and a male passenger were injured after Leon rammed his boat into a bulkhead at Sandspit Marina on the Patchogue River, police said.

Leon had served a prison sentence of 32/3 to 8 years after pleading guilty to drunken driving in 2007. His driver's license has been suspended 38 times.