Pedestrian Killed In Crash With Drunken Driver In Suffolk: Police

WHEATLEY HEIGHTS, NY — A woman was charged with DWI after Suffolk police said she hit and killed a pedestrian in Wheatley Heights early Friday.

Shawnet Earle, 30, of Hempstead, was driving a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander eastbound on Main Avenue at North 26th Street when she struck a woman walking along Main Avenue around 12:10 a.m., police said.

Blanche Pope, 60, of Wheatley Heights, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. An adult passenger in the Mitsubishi suffered minor injuries and was brought to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, police said. The other adult passenger was not injured.

Earle was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. She was held overnight at the First Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Friday.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to call the Major Case Unit at 631-852-6555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.