Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Commack Man Charged with DWI Following School Bus Crash

The man is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident after colliding with the bus.

Updated, 3 p.m.

Police have identified the Commack man who was charged with driving while intoxicated following a collision with a school bus, carrying 23 children, Tuesday morning as Robert Slavonik.

According to police, the school bus was traveling westbound on Route 25A in Smithtown at 9:45 a.m. when it was struck by a Dodge pickup truck that was exiting the Dunkin Donuts parking lot, located at 235 Route 25A. The driver of the pickup truck then fled the scene.

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Police were able to locate and identify the driver after a witness reported the pickup truck’s plate number. Police responded to the Marvin Lane home of the truck owner, who was in the driver’s seat of the truck in the driveway when officers arrived, police said.

The bus, which was from the Three Village School District, was carrying 26 people, including 23 children. There were no injuries in the crash, police said.

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Slavonik, 44, was charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and driving while intoxicated. He will be arraigned on Feb. 27 at First District Court in Central Islip. 

Original story, 1:46 p.m.

Police say a Commack man was drunk when he crashed his pickup truck into a school bus in Smithtown Tuesday morning.

Suffolk County police arrested the man, who is now charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to police, the man was driving on Route 25A in Smithtown when he crashed his truck into the bus at 10:01 a.m. The bus was carrying children from the Three Village School District, police said.

Police have not yet released the identity of the driver.

*This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information is received.

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