A 32-year-old Port Chester man is facing five felony counts after New York State Police say they pulled him over early Saturday morning and found five children inside his car, ranging in age from just 2 months to 15 years old, with some not properly restrained. Troopers say a breath test back at the barracks showed Fredy A. Regalado-Carranza's blood alcohol concentration at 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for driving in New York.
According to Daily Voice, troopers assigned to SP New Rochelle first spotted Regalado-Carranza's 2012 Mazda sedan traveling south on South Main Street in Port Chester at around 1:28 a.m. on October 31. State Police said that before stopping the car, they observed children in the back seat who were not properly restrained; after the stop, they noticed signs of intoxication while speaking with him.
Field sobriety tests indicated he was impaired, according to police, and the subsequent test at the State Police barracks in New Rochelle put his blood alcohol concentration at 0.15 percent. He was charged with five counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law, along with other vehicle and traffic law violations, per the outlet's report.
What Happens Next in Court
Regalado-Carranza was released to a sober third party following his arrest, and the same arrangement was made for the five children, who were also turned over to a sober third party, the same account notes. He is scheduled to appear in Rye Town Court on November 20.
The charges stem from Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony in New York to drive while intoxicated with a child younger than 16 in the vehicle. The law took effect in December 2009 and was named after Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl killed in a crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway whose driver had reportedly been drinking. The New York Courts describe the statute as amending the state's Vehicle and Traffic Law and Penal Law to establish a new Class E felony specifically tied to driving while intoxicated with a child passenger.
How Common Is Impaired Driving in New York
State Police also used the arrest as an occasion to remind drivers to use the free Stop-DWI Have A Plan app, which offers options for arranging a taxi, rideshare, or designated driver, and for reporting suspected impaired drivers.
Beyond this case, broader self-reported data from ITSMR shows that 5.5 percent of New York residents aged 16 or older, an estimated 864,000 people, reported driving under the influence of alcohol or select drugs in 2018-2022. That same research found self-reported cannabis-impaired driving at 3.2 percent compared with 3.0 percent for alcohol-impaired driving, and noted that overall DUI and alcohol-impaired driving had declined significantly since 2021-2022, while cannabis-impaired driving had not changed significantly. Those statewide figures describe broader trends and are not specific to Port Chester or this incident.
