Tarrytown Woman, 31, Charged With DWI After Trooper Finds Baby In Backseat

A 31-year-old Tarrytown woman is facing a felony charge after New York State Police say they pulled her over on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Greenburgh and found an 11-month-old child riding in her vehicle while she showed signs of intoxication. Jazmir I. Skeete submitted to a chemical breath test that registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.13 percent, well above the legal limit, according to troopers.

State Police conducted the traffic stop after observing a violation of New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law on a southbound vehicle, according to Newport Dispatch. Troopers administered standardized field sobriety tests during the stop, and Skeete exhibited signs of intoxication before she was transported to SP Hawthorne for processing, the outlet reported. The child was released safely to a sober third party, per the same account.

Skeete was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger under Leandra's Law, along with standard driving while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle with 0.08 percent or more alcohol in the blood, first offense. She was also issued traffic tickets, the report noted.

Why the Child's Presence Changes Everything

The presence of the 11-month-old in the vehicle is what elevates this case well beyond an ordinary DWI stop. Aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger is a Class E felony under New York's Leandra's Law, carrying statutory penalties of up to four years in state prison and fines between $1,000 and $5,000 for a first offense, according to the New York State Courts. By contrast, standard driving while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher are each unclassified misdemeanors on their own, generally punishable by up to a year in jail and license revocation of at least six months, per the Kugel Law Firm.

Leandra's Law was unanimously enacted by the New York State Legislature in November 2009, named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who died in a crash on Manhattan's Henry Hudson Parkway while riding in an SUV driven by an intoxicated adult, according to the Law Offices of Jason Bassett, P.C. That tragedy pushed New York to become one of the strictest states in the country when it comes to child passengers and impaired driving.

Beyond the criminal case now headed to Town of Greenburgh Court, a Leandra's Law arrest triggers consequences that unfold on parallel tracks. Anyone convicted under the law or of any misdemeanor or felony DWI must install and maintain an ignition interlock device on every vehicle they own or operate for at least 12 months, per the New York DMV. Drivers charged with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher while transporting a child aged 15 or younger also face an automatic suspension of their license pending prosecution, the state courts note. On top of that, state law requires police to report any parent, guardian, or legal custodian arrested for driving while impaired with a child in the car to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, which opens an independent Child Protective Services investigation running separately from the criminal case, according to court and state guidance.

A Parkway Under Heightened Scrutiny

The Sprain Brook Parkway, a 12.65-mile commercial-vehicle-restricted corridor maintained by the state Department of Transportation, falls under the jurisdiction of State Police Troop K, operating out of SP Hawthorne, according to the RadioReference Wiki. That stretch of highway has drawn intensified attention this year: in February, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office and Troop K launched the District Attorney's Safer Highways initiative, deploying targeted patrols to crack down on reckless and impaired driving along the Sprain Brook and I-684.

During that campaign, State Police vehicle and traffic citations rose 92 percent month-over-month across Westchester parkways, producing 12 felony arrests, 18 misdemeanor arrests and four DWI arrests, with enforcement on the Sprain Brook Parkway specifically surging 280 percent, according to the Hudson Valley Post. Skeete's arrest adds to a string of Leandra's Law cases that Hoodline has tracked across the Hudson Valley in recent months, including a July arrest on I-684 involving an infant passenger.

Skeete's case is scheduled for a hearing at Town of Greenburgh Court on September 18 at 9:30 a.m. Traffic tickets and criminal court appearances stemming from state police stops in Greenburgh are returnable to that courthouse at 188 Tarrytown Road in White Plains.