Drugged Commack Man Crashes Car With 19-Month-Old Daughter Inside: Police

A Long Island woman and a man were arrested on felony Leandra's Law impaired driving charges following separate crashes Monday afternoon, police said.

The first crash occurred in Ronkonkoma at about 2:30 p.m. According to Suffolk Police, 50-year-old Veronica Valentine was driving a 2005 Ford Explorer east on Express Drive South when she swerved to avoid striking a dog in the roadway. Her vehicle went off the road and struck a wire fence and a tree on the north side of the street west of Ocean Avenue, police said.

Valentine’s 8-year-old son was in the car at the time, police said. Neither Valentine nor her son were injured in the crash.

Valentine, of Ronkonkoma, was charged with DWI, aggravated DWI with a child passenger 15 years old or younger–a felony under Leandra’s Law and endangering the welfare of a child.

Less than two hours later, police said 32-year-old Stanley Battle, of Commack, was high on drugs when his vehicle left a road and struck a hot dog truck on a Sunrise Highway service road.

Battle's 19-month-old daughter was in his 2005 Mercedes Benz when it hit the truck parked on the shoulder of Sunrise Highway North Service Road, west of Station Road in North Bellport at about 3:50 p.m., police said.

Battle’s daughter was transported to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue for evaluation and was released. Battle was not injured.

Battle was charged with aggravated driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol with a child passenger 15 years old or younger–a felony under Leandra’s Law, driving while ability impaired by drugs, endangering the welfare of a child, first degree criminal contempt and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Battle and Valentine will be held in police custody overnight and are scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday.