Southern State Parkway crash kills 9-year-old boy. His mother, the driver, is suspected of DWI.
ISLIP, N.Y. -- A woman suspected of driving while impaired crashed while going the wrong way on the Southern State Parkway and killed her 9-year-old son, New York State Police said.
The crash on Long Island shut down the eastbound lanes in the area of Exit 42 in Islip at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday. Traffic was diverted off the highway as emergency crews responded to the scene.
Four cars were involved in the crash and all suffered extensive damage, New York State Police Major Stephen J. Udice said at a news conference.
The engine of the vehicle going the wrong way was thrown into the woods "some distance from the collision point," he said.
Officer tried to stop wrong-way driver
Police believe Kerri Bedrick, 32, of Centerport, was behind the wheel with her 9-year-old son Eli Henrys in the back seat. They say Bedrick drove about five miles in the wrong direction on Sunrise Highway before she got on the Southern State Parkway.
A Suffolk County Sheriff's Office patrol officer spotted her "well prior to [the] collision" and tried to pull her over, but she did not stop and sped up, Udice said. By the time the officer caught up, she had already crashed.
Bedrick was found standing outside the vehicle. She was given a field sobriety test, taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and placed into police custody. She's been charged with driving while impaired, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and impairment by drugs. She's being held until her arraignment Friday morning.
First responders pulled the boy out of the back seat of the SUV and continued performing CPR on him en route to the hospital before he was pronounced dead. He was wearing a seat belt, police said.
"The state troopers did their best to save the boy's life and this was a traumatic experience for all involved," Udice said.
First responders are receiving counseling.
"The deputy sheriff involved is assigned to our DWI enforcement team and is a certified drug recognition expert. He goes out every night to remove people from the roads who are a danger to the public. He will have the image of this young boy's face forever etched in his memory," Deputy Undersheriff John Becker said.
Two other drivers were also treated for non-life threatening injuries, police said. There were no passengers in their cars.
Wrong-way crashes have plagued the Southern State Parkway. Extensive signage now flanks all ramps, including the one where it is believed Bedrick entered the Parkway in the wrong direction.
Any witnesses are being asked to contact New York State Police.