Child hurt in DUI crash, father arrested

A man who was driving with his young son in the car was arrested on Thursday afternoon and charged with driving high and criminal possession.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the defendant, 41-year-old Sandro Vargas, was driving east in a 1990 Buick on Middle Country Road in Selden, at Park Hill Drive, at about 1:30 p.m. when he attempted to go around another car and allegedly sideswiped that car’s rear. His 7-year-old son was in the Buick at the time of the incident.

Patrol officer Greg Sandbichler from the 6th Precinct found Vargas to be under the influence of drugs, police said, and arrested him.

The boy complained of pain after the crash and was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital. Police said he was later released to a family member.

No one else was hurt in the incident.

Vargas, a Coram resident, was charged with aggravated driving while impaired by drugs with a child in the car — a felony under Leandra’s Law — and with endangering the welfare of a child and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Attorney information for Vargas was not immediately available. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.