Police: Southold Mother Charged With DWI Under Leandra’s Law

The following information was supplied by the . A criminal charge is only an accusation, and does not indicate convictions.

Elizabeth Strauss, 38, of Southold, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child on Sunday at 9:40 p.m., after police stopped her for a traffic violation on Route 25 in Mattituck, police said. Strauss was traveling with her two children under the age of 15 in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop, police said. After investigation revealed that Strauss was intoxicated, she was arrested and transported to police headquarters in Peconic where she was held overnight pending arraignment, police said.

Passed in 2009, Leandra’s Law is a New York State law making drunk driving with a person age 15 or younger inside the vehicle an automatic felony. The law was named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City on Oct. 11, 2009 when her friend’s mother flipped the car they were in while allegedly driving while intoxicated.