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Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 11, a Suffolk County Sheriff’s deputy traveling east on Sunrise Highway (Route 27) in Islip spotted the driver heading the wrong way in the opposite lanes.
Officials said that the deputy was able to get ahead of the driver on the highway, continuing on westbound in the westbound lanes before the driver pulled over on the side of the roadway, still facing the wrong direction.
The deputy parked nose-to-nose with the vehicle, and when he approached the front seat they found the driver, later identified as Luis Lopez Ramirez, age, 31, of Farmingville, asleep behind the wheel with the engine running, in gear, with his foot on the brake, the Sheriff's Office said.
Once stirred, the Sheriff’s Office said that Ramirez showed signs of being intoxicated and he was arrested for driving while intoxicated, driving the wrong way, and failure to notify the DMV of an address change.
At the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Ramirez submitted to a breathalyzer, which found his blood alcohol content to be .17 percent, more than double the legal limit, said the sheriff's office.
Ramirez wasn’t the only DWI bust made by Sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday night.
In separate incidents, they also arrested Manuel Lojanoguallpa, age 40, of Patchogue, and Travis O’Shaughnessy, age 39, of Brooklyn.
“The Deputies from the Sheriff’s Proactive Impaired Driving Reduction Effort (SPIDRE) Team are out on the roads every night on the lookout for impaired drivers,” Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon said in a statement.
“If you are out enjoying our county’s fine restaurants and bars, please do not get behind the wheel. Call a friend, call an Uber, or have a designated driver. Drive drunk in Suffolk County and you’ll get a ride from us… to jail.”
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