Mother Arrested for DWI; Daughter Seriously Injured

Photos by Steve Silverman

On Thursday, December 26, 2013, at approximately 10:50 p.m., Laquita Brooks, 39, was driving a 1998 Mercury Mystique southbound on Dix Hills Road when she apparently lost control of the vehicle 200 feet south of Dellwood Drive, left the roadway, struck a signpost and then a tree.

Brooks’ seven-year-old daughter sustained a serious head injury and her five-year-old son sustained a minor head injury.  Both children, who were in the backseat of the Mercury, did not have proper child restraints.

The Huntington Manor Fire Department responded with two Heavy Rescue trucks under the command of Chief Fred Steenson, Jr. Firefighters assisted the Huntington Community First Aid Squad with removal of the injured children and secured the vehicle. They were transported to Huntington Hospital by Huntington Community First Aid Squad.  After being treated at Huntington Hospital, the 7-year-old girl was transported to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park for further treatment.

Second Squad detectives arrested Brooks, of Cumberbach St., Wyandanch, and charged her with one count of Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated with a Child 15 Years or Younger (Leandra’s Law), one count of Driving While Intoxicated and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

 Brooks will be held overnight at the Fourth Precinct is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on December 27.

The investigation is continuing.  Detectives ask anyone who may have witnesses the crash to contact the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.