Three parents – in separate incidents – were locked up for driving drunk with their kids in their cars within a few hours on the Long Island Expressway, police said yesterday.
The first stop occurred just after 7 p.m. Sunday, when a motorist on the L.I.E. dialed 911 to report that a woman in a blue 2003 Audi, with a child in the car, was weaving across the roadway, said Suffolk Highway Patrol Capt. Thomas Palmieri.
An officer busted Lori Ditaranto, 34, of Lindenhurst, who was traveling with her 2 1/2-year-old son, in Dix Hills. The suspect, an educator at Suffolk Community College, was charged with DWI.
Ditaranto was held for arraignment. Her son was released into the custody of his father.
Less than half an hour later, a 911 call reported another woman driving erratically on the L.I.E. with kids in the car, this time in Islandia. A cop stopped Elizabeth Heaney, 39, of Riverhead, and charged her with DWI, Palmieri said.
Heaney’s three daughters, ages 9, 5 and 3, were in the car. The unemployed woman’s vehicle was impounded.
Heaney was held for arraignment. Her daughters were released into the custody of their grandfather.
About four hours later, Spiridon Kalouris, 52, of Medford, a painter, was stopped by an officer in Ronkonkoma for allegedly seeding at 90 mph. He, too, was charged with drunken driving and endangering the welfare of a child.
His 14-year-old daughter and 17-year-old niece were in the vehicle, Palmieri said. The teens were released into the custody of their mother and aunt.
“It’s unusual to have three” DWIs with children in the vehicles on the same roadway within a few hours, Palmieri said.