Suffolk Man Drove Drunk With 14-Year-Old Son In Car: Sheriff

PATCHOGUE, NY — A Medford man was caught driving drunk with his 14-year-old son inside of his car on Route 112 in Patchogue early Saturday morning, the Suffolk Sheriff's office said.

Ivan Vallejo, 51, was caught with his 14-year-old son, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, at about 2:30 a.m. after a deputy sheriff stopped his car because it was swerving outside of the lane, according to the sheriff's office.

Vallejo was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, the sheriffs said, adding that he was taken to the office's civil bureau where he submitted to a chemical blood test.

Leandra’s Law, also known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, is a state law making it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person 15 years old or younger inside of a vehicle.

It was named after Leandra Rosado, 11, who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway on Oct. 11, 2009, as the passenger in a car that was driven by a driver who was allegedly drunk driving.

Vallejo's blood has since been taken to Suffolk's Crime Lab and is pending analysis, the sheriff's office said. He has a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated on Nov. 21, 2012, according to the office.

He is being represented by a Legal Aid Society attorney and is due back in court on Dec. 1, online court records show.

Sheriff Errol Toulon commended his deputies on the arrest, adding that they are out patrolling the county’s roads "to keep the public safe."

"In this case, they not only prevented an intoxicated driver from causing an accident with another driver or a pedestrian, but they potentially saved the life of an adolescent in the vehicle," he said. "I am proud of their ongoing vigilance in protecting the residents of Suffolk County.”

The sheriff’s office will be conducting increased DWI patrols and traffic stops over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Toulon said, reminding residents: “Stay alive - Don’t drink and drive”