Police on Long Island arrested 52 people for drunk driving and 11 people for illegal fireworks over the long Independence Day weekend.
In Nassau County, 17 people were busted for DWI and nine were arrested for fireworks-related offenses, Newsday reported Tuesday. In Suffolk County, there were 35 DWI arrests and two fireworks arrests.
“The department’s enhanced DWI patrols are evident with the DWI arrests and punctuates the department’s commitment to roadway safety,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina told the outlet.
However, fireworks arrests were down significantly from recent years. In 2023, 42 people were arrested in Nassau County alone for fireworks offenses. That number dropped to 34 people in 2024 before plummeting to nine this year.
Throughout New York, state troopers wrote more than 10,000 tickets over the weekend, despite alerting the public beforehand that they’d be keeping a closer eye on the roads during the busy holiday. Troop L wrote 656 tickets on Long Island, according to data released Tuesday by state police.
Across the state, 210 people were arrested by troopers for drunk driving. But both overall tickets and DWIs were down from 2024, when more than 12,000 people were ticketed and 335 were busted for DWI.
