Hempstead Man Charged With DWI After Hit-and-run

A drunken driving Hempstead man was arrested early Saturday morning following a hit-and-run crash in South Hempstead, New York State police said.

Douglas Thomas

Troopers were responding to a call of an erratic driver eastbound on the Southern State Parkway near Exit 17, Hempstead Avenue, at about 2 a.m. were told en-route that the same vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run crash near Exit 20, Grand Avenue. Upon arrival, the Troopers found an off-duty U.S. Customs Agent and a Nassau County police officer had Douglas Thomas, 32, in handcuffs. 

The agent told the Troopers that Thomas was driving a Ford Expedition erratically and that he saw the truck strike a vehicle and continue traveling eastbound, police said.

Thomas, who smelled of alcohol, failed sobriety tests and was found to have a blood alcohol content of .18 percent, police said. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and several traffic violations.  He is due at First District Court in Hempstead on Dec. 7.