Crime & Safety
Wrong-Way Driver In Suffolk Was On Drugs, Alcohol: Police
The off-duty officer who stopped her had just received a unit recognition award for impaired driving enforcement, police say.
SMITHTOWN, NY — A woman who drove the wrong way in Smithtown while her ability was impaired by drugs and alcohol was arrested Tuesday, Suffolk police said.
Marisa Soares, 66, of East Northport, was driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of Route 347, near Mount Pleasant Road, around 7 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Highway Patrol Bureau Police Officer Eric Noens was off-duty in a marked police vehicle when he saw Soares driving the wrong way, police said.
Noens, who is part of the Selective Alcohol Fatality Enforcement (SAFE-T) Section, was heading
home from the Fourth Precinct after receiving a unit recognition award for impaired driving
enforcement from Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Albany.
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Soares was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and alcohol, police said. She was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Central Islip.
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