Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Two months after a violent, high-speed crash on Sunrise Highway left him and his passenger seriously hurt, Mario Auer, 25, of Shirley, was arrested Monday and charged with drug-impaired driving and reckless endangerment, according to Suffolk County police.
According to Greater Long Island, investigators determined that Auer was driving more than 100 mph immediately before the crash, which occurred at approximately 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. Auer was behind the wheel of a 2022 BMW, traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway just west of Nicolls Road in Bayport, when he lost control of the vehicle. The BMW struck the center median and overturned — ejecting both Auer and his passenger from the car.
Auer’s passenger, Caitlyn Rose Lovelock, 28, of Mastic Beach, was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in Patchogue, where she was treated for minor injuries. Auer himself fared considerably worse: he was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was admitted with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The 2022 BMW was impounded for a safety check following the wreck.
The crash had an immediate and significant impact on the surrounding roadway. The eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway were shut down entirely for hours, with traffic backed up between Bohemia and the west end of Patchogue as investigators worked the scene.
Approximately two months after the crash, Greater Long Island reports that Auer was taken into custody on Monday, June 29, 2026, at Suffolk Police’s Fifth Precinct in Patchogue. He was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs (DWAI), second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and speeding. Police did not specify Monday what substance is alleged to have impaired Auer at the time of the wreck. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday at First District Court.
Location & Road Context
The crash took place on eastbound Sunrise Highway (NY-27) just west of the Nicolls Road interchange in Bayport — a stretch of highway that runs through the heart of central Suffolk County and carries heavy commuter and recreational traffic year-round. Sunrise Highway is one of Long Island’s primary east-west arterials, and the section between Bohemia and Patchogue sees consistent high-speed travel.
Long Island Traffic’s database records 790 incidents on this road, making it one of the most incident-prone corridors tracked on Long Island. Recent events along the NY-27 corridor include a crash on NY 27 on June 29, 2026, as well as a fatal crash in Shirley on June 25 that claimed the life of a grandmother. A motorcyclist was killed in Shirley just one week prior to that.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The gap between the April 28 crash and Auer’s June 29 arrest reflects the time required for investigators to build a drug-impaired driving case, which typically involves toxicology analysis, review of surveillance or speed data, and reconstruction of the events leading to the collision. Suffolk County Police’s Fifth Precinct in Patchogue handled the arrest. As Greater Long Island reported, police have not yet disclosed publicly what controlled substance or substances allegedly impaired Auer’s ability to operate the vehicle. Auer was scheduled for arraignment Monday at First District Court.
The charges against him are serious in scope: second-degree reckless endangerment, under New York Penal Law, applies when a person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person — a felony-adjacent charge that reflects the danger that Auer’s alleged conduct posed to his passenger and anyone else on the highway that afternoon.
What This DWI Charge Means
Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192, there are several tiers of impaired-driving offenses. A charge of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs (DWAI-Drugs), under §1192.4, applies when a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle is impaired by a drug other than alcohol — or a combination of drugs and alcohol. Unlike alcohol-based DWI, DWAI-Drugs does not have a fixed numerical threshold like a BAC of 0.08%; instead, it is based on observable impairment and, typically, toxicology results. A standard DWI under §1192.2 requires a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher, while an Aggravated DWI under §1192.2-a applies at a BAC of 0.18% or above and carries significantly steeper penalties.
For a first-offense DWAI-Drugs conviction in New York, penalties can include fines ranging from $500 to $1,000, a mandatory minimum six-month license revocation, and up to one year in jail, though jail time is not always imposed on first offenses. Repeat offenders face escalating consequences, including longer revocations, higher fines, and mandatory ignition interlock device requirements upon relicensing. The additional charges Auer faces — reckless driving and second-degree reckless endangerment — compound his potential legal exposure well beyond a standalone DWAI case. It is also worth noting that under New York law, refusing to submit to a chemical test (breathalyzer or blood draw) triggers an automatic one-year license revocation and a $500 civil penalty, independent of any criminal outcome.
Case Status & Updates
It is important to note that the charges filed against Mario Auer represent accusations, not findings of guilt. Auer is presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted in a court of law. His case is expected to proceed through the New York State court system, beginning with his arraignment at First District Court, which was scheduled for Monday, June 29, 2026.
Long Island Traffic tracks impaired-driving cases through the courts and will update this report as additional information becomes available — including arraignment outcomes, any plea agreements, trial dates, and sentencing, should the case reach that stage. Readers with information about this case or who have been involved in a similar incident are encouraged to monitor this page for updates.
Broader Impact
Auer’s arrest follows a stretch of serious and fatal crashes along the NY-27/Sunrise Highway corridor in recent weeks, including a critical crash in Shirley on June 22 that killed a motorcyclist and a fatal collision on June 25 that claimed the life of a grandmother. The pattern underscores the ongoing danger posed by high-speed and impaired driving on one of Suffolk County’s most heavily traveled roadways — and the willingness of investigators to pursue delayed arrests when toxicology and crash reconstruction data support the charges.