Wrong-way driver faces DWI charge

SAYVILLE, NY (WABC) -- Authorities say a New Yorker has been charged with drunken driving after driving the wrong way on a busy Long Island highway.

It's the third wrong-way incident on Long Island in recent weeks.

Ralph Cerullo of East Setauket was arrested on Sunrise Highway in Sayville early Friday. He was awaiting arraignment on DWI, reckless driving and other charges. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

"Had he not been stopped, Mr. Cerullo undoubtedly would have caused serious injury to himself and other motorists," Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco said.

Sheriff's deputies arrested the 54-year-old Cerullo after receiving 911 calls of a westbound driver in the eastbound lanes.

Cerullo told officers that he was just coming from a Christmas Party, a sobering reminder to all during the holidays of the effects of drinking and driving.

Two drivers were injured last month in a wrong-way car crash on the Long Island Expressway. Two days earlier, an off-duty New York City police officer was killed in a wrong-way crash on the Northern State Parkway. Both crashes also allegedly involved drunken driving.

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