(Long Island, NY) An Amityville mother of three on probation for a 2013 drunk driving conviction and arrested two weeks ago on a second DWI, this time with her three children in the car, pleaded not guilty today to a 16-count indictment in county court in Riverhead, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
An alert security guard stopped 29-year-old Benigna Pinedamata on March 12 in front of a North Amityville elementary school after watching Pinedamata drive up onto a sidewalk and narrowly miss a school bus on her arrival to pick up her 5 year old child from kindergarten. When the guard smelled alcohol on the defendant’s breath, police were called.
Benigna Pinedamata, 29, an Amityville mother of three on probation for a 2013 drunk driving conviction and arrested two weeks ago on a second DWI, this time with her three children in the car. Photo Credit: SCPD.
“The defendant told police she had a shot and a beer just prior to picking up her son from school,” District Attorney Spota said. “The crime lab analysis of her blood showed she had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit: .17%.”
Pinedamata is charged in the indictment with six violations of Leandra’s Law, driving while intoxicated as a felony, endangering the welfare of a child, circumvention of an interlock device, and driving without a valid driver’s license.
She is incarcerated in lieu of $30,000 cash bail or $90,000 bond.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
