DWI Charge For Wrong-Way Driver On Sunrise Hwy, 3 Others: Sheriff

PATCHOGUE, NY — A pair of deputy sheriffs transporting someone they picked up for driving while intoxicated were nearly hit by a wrong-way driver also driving drunk on Sunrise Highway in Shirley on Friday night, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office said.

At about 11:43 p.m. on Friday, deputy sheriffs passed a driver heading westbound in the eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway, “nearly crashing into their vehicle” as they transported someone who was arrested for driving while intoxicated, the sheriff’s office said. The deputies “immediately radioed for assistance and another deputy unit managed to stop the driver on Sunrise Highway near exit 58,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Dawn Clark, 56, of Mastic Beach consented to a breath test and registered a blood alcohol content of .19%, a little over double the legal limit of .08%, the sheriff’s office said, adding that she was charged with driving while intoxicated and second-degree reckless endangerment.

She was one of four people charged with DWI overnight. The three others arrested include:

• Gina Sabellichi, 27, of Center Moriches, was charged with driving while intoxicated.
• Josephine Rivera, 41, of Coram, was charged with felony driving while intoxicated due to a prior DWI conviction in 2018, as well as driving without a required ignition interlock device, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
• Ashly Norval, 31, of Patchogue, was charged with felony driving while intoxicated due to a prior DWI conviction in 2014.