Police: Dad slapped and choked 3-year-old son, drove under the influence (Long Island, New York)

It sure sounds like UNNAMED DAD picked up these kids under some sort of visitation agreement. But the reporter doesn't clarify this. Notice that Dad was observed acting abusively to the kids--in adddition to endangering them by driving under the influence of oxycodone.

http://www.longislandexchange.com/articles/news/massapequafatherendangerskids-071511.html

MASSAPEQUA FATHER ENDANGERS KIDS
News: Massapequa Father Endangers Kids

(Long Island, N.Y.) A thirty-five-year-old man was charged with driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law after he got into his vehicle with his two young children. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon when Nassau County police officers saw him swerving in the parking lot of a Massapequa park. The man was found to be high on drugs and driving with his two children, an infant and three-year-old child.

Nassau County police officers pulled him over and administered sobriety tests. He failed the tests and two pills of oxycodone were later discovered in his possession. Under Leandra's Law, the man was charged more severely for endangering the lives of his two children. The law is advertised in local establishments, and has even been printed on business cards placed at Long Island diners.

The law was named for Leandra Rosado, who was killed in a drunken driving wreck in 2009. The man was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, traffic violations, and felony driving. He was also charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, possessing oxycodone pills, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The man had brought his children at roughly 1:15 PM to Majorie Post Park in Massapequa. The park is not far from his home, and it is uncertain where his wife/mother of his children was that afternoon. Witnesses at the park claimed that the man shook his three-year-old child, telling him to shut up.


Witnesses included Town of Oyster Bay parks workers who have stated that the man slapped his child with an open hand and choked the child around the neck. Neighbors claimed that the man had an ongoing problem with drugs and alcohol and struggled with the abuse for years. One source even claimed that the police and authorities on the case saved the lives of the children, who were in danger in their father's custody.

The police were called after witnesses at the park dialed emergencies services. Responders were alerted that the man had walked away from his infant son to administer the beating on the three-year-old. Reports stated that the man works in a family construction business and lives in a waterfront home in Massapequa. The home is located in a canal neighborhood just a short distance away from the park where the incident occurred.

Reports also stated that the kids were placed in the mother's care, and that the man was arraigned on Thursday at the First District Court in Hempstead. This is one of several cases on Long Island involving parents who have endangered the welfare of children as a result of being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Roughly two years ago, a minivan full of kids crashed when the female driver, who was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, hit another vehicle while driving the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway.