Farmingville Man Charged With DWI, Driving Wrong Way: Sheriff

EAST ISLIP, NY — A Farmingville man was charged with drunken driving after he drove his car the wrong way on Sunrise Highway in Islip on Wednesday night, the Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon’s office said.

Just before midnight, a deputy traveling east in the eastbound lane of Sunrise Highway saw a vehicle traveling east in the westbound lane, and had to speed up to get ahead of the driver headed west in the westbound lane and then saw it pull over to the side of the road, according to a news release from Toulon’s press office.

When the deputy reached the driver, Luis Lopez Ramirez, 31, the car was still facing the wrong direction, the office said.

“The deputy parked his marked unit nose-to-nose” with Ramirez’s vehicle and approached, only to discover him “asleep at the wheel with the engine running and in gear,” Toulon’s office said.

Ramirez’s foot was on the brake and the deputy was able to reach in to put the vehicle in park and turn it off, Toulon’s office said.

Other deputies responded and, after waking Ramirez up, he was found to be showing signs of intoxication, and was charged with Driving While Intoxicated, according to Toulon’s office. He was additionally charged with Driving the Wrong Way and Failure to Notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of an Address Change.

After Ramirez was taken into custody, he was transported to the Sheriff’s Duty Office where he submitted to a chemical breath test and scored a Blood Alcohol Content reading of .17 percent.

Two other drivers were arrested for drunken driving in separate incidents on Wednesday making it a busy night for deputies, a spokesman said. Charged with DWI were Manuel Lojanoguallpa, 40, of Patchogue, and Travis O’Shaughnessy, 39, of Brooklyn, according to the Sheriff’s press office.

Sheriff Errol Toulon said he wants drivers to know that drunk or impaired driving will not be tolerated in the county and that deputies from the Proactive Impaired Driving Reduction Effort Team “are out on the roads every night on the lookout for impaired drivers.”

“If you are out enjoying our county’s fine restaurants and bars, please do not get behind the wheel,” he said. “Call a friend, call an Uber, or have a designated driver. Drive drunk in Suffolk County and you’ll get a ride from us… to jail.”