Gordon Heights Woman Charged With DWI, Two Children in Car

Swaneka Danzler, 35, of Gordon Heights, had a 3-year-old boy and an infant girl in the back seat of her 2010 Hyundai Elantra when a 911 caller reported the car swerving on Myrtle Avenue in Central Islip on Friday morning. Third Precinct patrol officers located the vehicle stopped in front of 24 Myrtle Ave. around 11 a.m., determined Danzler was intoxicated, and placed her under arrest. The two children were unharmed and released to a family member at the scene.

Suffolk County police charged Danzler with two counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger under 15, one count of driving while intoxicated, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The aggravated charges fall under Leandra's Law, New York's 2009 statute that makes it an automatic felony on a first offense to drive drunk with a child passenger younger than 15 in the vehicle. The law was named for Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway in October 2009 when an intoxicated driver crashed the car she was riding in.

The 11 a.m. stop is a reminder that impaired driving is not confined to bar-closing hours. Danzler was held overnight at the Fourth Precinct and scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip. Third Squad detectives are continuing the investigation.

The arrest adds to a troubling pattern across Suffolk County. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office, a separate enforcement agency from the police department, recorded 16 Leandra's Law arrests and 311 total DWI arrests through late December 2025, a count more than 100 arrests higher than the same period in 2024. Across both county law enforcement agencies, Suffolk has seen a 110 percent surge in underage DWI-related arrests between 2023 and 2025.

The Danzler case also illustrates how critical that 911 call was: the stop happened because a driver noticed something wrong and acted. Reporting a swerving vehicle to dispatchers is most effective when callers provide the vehicle's make, model, color, and plate number if readable; the road name, direction of travel, and nearest cross street or visible landmark; and a clear description of the behavior, whether weaving between lanes, braking erratically, or ignoring signals. Drivers who need to place the call should pull safely off the road first. Never follow or confront the vehicle. The dispatcher will route the report directly to the appropriate patrol unit.

Anyone with information about the April 3 incident can reach Third Squad detectives at 631-854-8352.