A drunk-as-a-skunk off-duty cop careened eight miles the wrong way down a Long Island freeway — until a startled driver finally blocked the boozy motorist.
Three-year NYPD veteran Candice Smith, of Valley Stream, came to a wobbly stop on the Sagtikos Parkway at the Pine Aire Drive exit for Brentwood at 4:30 a.m. Sunday after cruising north in the southbound lanes of the roadway, bashing into and bouncing off the highway median as she drove along, said News12 Long Island graphic designer Eric Minkoff, 32.
Minkoff, who was driving friends home at the time, said he could hardly believe his eyes.
“There was a handful of cars driving by her, avoiding her, flashing their lights trying to get her attention,” said Minkoff, who wound up driving alongside Smith as she drove north in the southbound lanes of the parkway.
“At one point, I was able to see inside the car, and the passenger side air bag was blown out.”
Minkoff said he called cops and continued to ride alongside of Smith’s Chevy Caliber as they both headed north.
“We were basically driving side by side with teh guard rail between us,” he said. “At an opening, she stopped, and I did too, and that’s when I guess she decided she wanted to keep going. I started blocking her, going back and forth with my car while she tried to go around me. Then the cops showed up.”
Smith was charged with drunk driving, and blew a 0.17 on her Breath-alyzer, more than twice the legal limit, cops said.
“It was just a good job by [Minkoff],” said State Trooper Frank Bandiero. “He averted a possible disaster.”
“Her vehicle was missing the front bumper,” said another trooper, Sgt. Gary Ryan. “She was aware she hit something but she didn’t know where the collision occurred.”
Smith was given a desk appearance ticket and will be back in Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip on Dec. 14.