RVC Man Arrested in Drunk Driver Ignition Violation Sweep

A Rockville Centre man was arrested during a county-wide sweep targeting convicted drunk drivers who attempted to bypass required ignition interlock devices in their vehicles.

Kenneth Hock, 47, of Rockville Centre, was one of 22 county residents arrested during the sweep Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced Monday.

Hock is being charged with operating a motor vehicle without a court-ordered interlock and driving with suspended license.

According to Rice, the two-week sweep, conducted by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office in conjunction with the Nassau County Department of Probation, used surveillance on convicted drunk drivers to ensure their compliance with the law. Offenders required to have ignition interlock devices are not permitted to drive in any vehicle without them, and must pay for the device.

Ignition interlock devices became mandatory for any drunk driver sentenced on or after Aug. 15, 2010, Rice said. The device requires the driver to pass a breath test in order to start the vehicle, as well as “rolling retests” until the vehicle is stopped and turned off. If the device detects alcohol on the driver’s breath, the horn will honk, the lights will flash, and the driver is instructed to stop the car.

According to the DA's Office, in some cases the police may respond to investigate. In all cases, a notice of violation will be sent to Probation, the DA’s Office and the court. In addition, the vehicle will enter “lockout” mode, preventing the car from starting if the driver does not report to the service provider.

“Ignition interlocks protect innocent drivers and pedestrians by forcing drunk drivers to prove that they are sober when they get behind the wheel,” Rice said. “These arrests should send a clear message that law enforcement is watching convicted drunk drivers closely, and this sting is just the beginning of a broader effort to ensure compliance with the ignition interlock law.”

According to Rice, some of the drivers were caught leaving their homes, but most were arrested after driving illegally to meet with their probation officers. Rice said that the DA’s Office will continue to work with the Department of Probation to conduct spot checks on convicted drunk drivers going forward. A judge can sentence each of the defendants to up to a year in jail if convicted, as well as re-sentence them on their underlying DWI case.

“Statistics have shown that 30 to 50 percent of first time drunk drivers in New York State will reoffend,” Mangano said. “... As of Aug. 15, 2011, at the one-year anniversary of Leandra’s Law, 1,717 drunk drivers in Nassau have been sentenced to either probation or a conditional discharge and mandated to install an interlock device. This brings the total to more than 3,000 DWI offenders currently under supervision of the Nassau County Probation Department of which approximately 900 of these individuals have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles."

In addition to Hock, the following defendants were also charged with operating a motor vehicle without a court-ordered interlock and driving with suspended license:

• James Lynch, 27, of Baldwin
• Jason Aragon, 30, of East Rockaway
• Darrell Hampton, 35, of Freeport
• Daniel Dillon, 26, of Baldwin
• Christopher Demir, 22, of Bethpage
• Maria Kinalis, 23, of Bethpage
• Farhan Khan, 22, of Franklin Square
• Jose Bermudez, 32, of Hempstead
• Steven Jones, 36, of Elmont
• Patrick Roberts, 41, of Uniondale
• Bryan Negrete, 20, of Freeport
• Peter Siciliano, 50, of Plainview
• Fred Beale 56, of Elmont
• John Mollo, 32, of Franklin Square
• Kevin Mack, 38, of Freeport
• Christopher Ramos, 42, of Glen Head
• Mitchell Bogdanov, 24, of Bayside
• Brian Pymm, 26, of Kings Point
• Christine Colasanto, 28, of Valley Stream

Two more defendants, Silvana Miranda, 37, of Brooklyn, and William Mauz, 32, of Bethpage, were arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license.