Wrong way to prison for erratic driver in East Meadow

Another wrong-way drunken driver has allegedly struck in East Meadow. 

According to the Nassau County Police Department, a Georgia man was arrested on the morning of New Year’s Eve when he drove his 2003 Honda Accord west in the eastbound lanes of Hempstead Turnpike at about 5:05 a.m. Police said that the driver, Jean Deshommes, 31, drove for approximately 100 yards in the wrong direction before an officer stopped him. 

The officer determined that Deshommes was operating under the influence of alcohol, police said. No injuries were reported. 

Deshommes was charged with driving while intoxicated and numerous vehicle and traffic law violations. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Dec. 31. 

Bail was set at $500, and Deshommes was due to appear again in court on Tuesday.

His arrest was the second reported wrong-way DWI incident on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow in December. The first occurred on Dec. 12 at about 4:05 a.m., when a 20-year-old Huntington Station woman, Bernadette Behensky, was arrested. According to police, she drove west in the eastbound lanes of Hempstead Turnpike under the influence of alcohol. Behensky pleaded guilty at her arraignment later that day, and was released after posting $1,000 bail, according to court records. She is due back in court on Feb. 15. 

More than a dozen wrong-way drunken-driving incidents have been reported on Long Island since November. 

Another occurred in a neighboring community three days after the Deshommes arrest. On Monday morning at 2:10 a.m., police said, a Nassau County police ambulance medical technician observed a Port Washington man driving a 2010 Toyota Corolla east in the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway in Bellmore. According to detectives, after the vehicle reached the Wantagh Parkway, the driver, Evan Jay, 25, was stopped by police, who determined that he was drunk. He was arrested, police said, and no injuries were reported.