Ardsley - A Yonkers woman is accused of driving the wrong way with her two children in the car, police said. She is due in Village Court today to answer drunken driving and child-endangerment charges.
Yossi Ventura, 32, was seen driving south in a northbound lane of Saw Mill River Road according to a police report. She nearly crashed head-on into a car being driven by an off-duty village police officer. Police said that the off-duty officer radioed a fellow officer who stopped her before anyone was injured.
The woman was driving with her 9-year-old and 11-year-old daughters in the car. She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.23 percent - nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent, police said. Ventura failed several sobriety tests, police said.
She was charged with driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, which makes drunken driving with children in the car a felony. She was also charged with two counts of misdemeanor child endangerment.
Westchester County has seen two high-profile and deadly cases of woman driving drunk with children in the car. In 2006, Ann Marie Ciarcia of Yorktown drove the wrong way on the Saw Mill Parkway which caused a head-on crash which killed her daughter's 16-year-old friend. The mother spent 16 months in prison.
Last summer, eight people were killed after a woman who police said was drunk drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and caused a fatal head-on crash. The driver, Diane Schuler was killed, her daughter, her three nieces, and three Yonkers men perished.
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DWI (driving while intoxicated) is a serious criminal offense in New York. Most often, this is charged as a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment in county jail of up to one year (along with driver's license suspension and fines.) However, DWI may also be charged as a felony. In these cases, the driver may face years of imprisonment in a state correctional facility. Whether you or a loved one has been charged with a first time DWI or if this is an arrest for a second, third, or subsequent offense, you will need aggressive legal counsel as soon as possible.
As a former prosecutor and trial attorney with a 95% success rate in all the cases he has tried to verdict, Westchester County criminal defense lawyer Robert Schuster can offer you the level of legal counsel you need to fight your charges. In addition to having the experience and resources to develop a strong DWI defense strategy on your behalf; Mr. Schuster can also provide you with personal attention and the client service you deserve.