Suffolk County Police accused a mother of driving while intoxicated with her 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in the vehicle in Huntington Thursday night.
Laquita Brooks, 39, was driving a 1998 Mercury Mystique south on Dix Hills Road in Huntington when she apparently lost control of the vehicle 200 feet south of Dellwood Drive, left the roadway, struck a signpost and then a tree at approximately 10:50 p.m.
Brooks’ daughter sustained a serious head injury and her son sustained a minor head injury. Both children, who were in the backseat of the Mercury and did not have proper child restraints, were taken to Huntington Hospital by the Huntington Community First Aid Squad. The girl was later taken to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park for further treatment.
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Second Squad detectives arrested Brooks, of Wyandanch, and charged her with one count of aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child 15 years or younger (Leandra’s Law), one count of driving while intoxicated and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Brooks will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Friday.
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The investigation is continuing. Detectives ask anyone who may have witnesses the crash to contact the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.
The Huntington Manor Fire Department responded with two heavy rescue trucks under the command of Chief Fred Steenson, Jr. and assisted with the removal of the two injured children.
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