Cops: Mom 3x Over Limit in DWI Crash that Killed L.I. Teen

COPIAGUE, N.Y. (AP/1010 WINS)  -- A woman charged in connection with a crash that killed a Long Island teenager pleaded not guilty at her arrignment Wednesday.


Mona Rivera reports

You Tube Tribute To Gary Paulino
   
Alyssa Cesare, 43, was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated in connection with the crash. Authorities said she had a blood alcohol limit of .24 which is three times over the legal limit of 0.08.

She was ordered held on $250,000 bail.

Gary Paulino, 19, of Copiague died Tuesday evening about an hour after 4:50 p.m. crash, Suffolk County police Commissioner Richard Dormer said.

Her father told 1010 WINS that she had just picked up one of her three children, her 11-year-old son, from a religion class before the crash.

He says that she was not driving drunk.  "She is not that type of person," he said.
   
Dormer says Paulino was traveling westbound when his car collided with a southbound minivan -- which Cesare was driving -- at a Copiague intersection. He says the car then struck a parked SUV.

Witnesses said Paulino went through a stop sign, but authorities said Cesare could have stopped if she had been sober.
   
Paulino was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip where he died.

Statement from Copiague School District:

The Copiague Board of Education and Administration extend their deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Gary Paulino. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this very difficult time. 

Gary Paulino was a senior at Walter G. O'Connell Copiague HS who was scheduled to graduate with his classmates on Friday, June 26, 2009. He was planning to enroll in Suffolk County Community College this coming September. Gary was a popular student who was actively involved in senior class activities and our SADD Club. He had many friends in school and will be sorely missed by our students and his teachers.

Inset photo: Memorial at crash scene/Mona Rivera