What Happened
A Hicksville man driving a commercial box truck was arrested for driving while intoxicated after rear-ending a passenger car on westbound Sunrise Highway in Bohemia on the evening of July 30, according to a press release from the Suffolk County Police Department.
Noel Ventura Sorto, 35, of Hicksville, was operating a 2024 Hino box truck in the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway near Locust Avenue when his vehicle struck the rear of a 2011 Subaru at approximately 5:54 p.m. The Subaru was being driven by a 32-year-old man from Levittown. The crash took place during the busy weekday evening commute period on one of Long Island’s highest-traffic arterial corridors.
Following the collision, Suffolk County Police responded to the scene and investigated the circumstances of the crash. Officers determined that Ventura Sorto had been driving while intoxicated. He was placed under arrest and charged with Driving While Intoxicated. The Suffolk County Police Department has not released information regarding injuries to the Levittown driver or to Ventura Sorto himself, nor has it publicly confirmed a specific blood-alcohol content reading.
Ventura Sorto was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip.
Location & Road Context
Sunrise Highway (NY Route 27) is a major east-west arterial running the length of the South Shore of Long Island. The segment near Locust Avenue in Bohemia — a hamlet within the Town of Islip — carries heavy commercial and commuter traffic, including a significant volume of delivery and freight vehicles given the proximity to industrial and warehouse corridors in central Suffolk County. Our local incident database for Suffolk County contains 689 recorded accidents, and nearby crashes on the same route were recorded as recently as July 30, including a crash on NY-27 the same evening as this arrest.
The evening rush-hour timing of the crash — just before 6 p.m. on a weekday — placed the collision at peak congestion, when a rear-end impact from a large commercial box truck carries elevated risk for vehicle occupants in smaller passenger cars.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Ventura Sorto faces a charge of Driving While Intoxicated under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, per the Suffolk County Police Department press release. He was processed following his arrest and scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip, which handles misdemeanor-level cases originating in western Suffolk County. No bail information was included in the official release.
What This DWI Charge Means
Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192, impaired and intoxicated driving is prosecuted across several tiers depending on the driver’s blood-alcohol content and prior record. A DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired) applies at a BAC of 0.05–0.07 and is a traffic infraction. A standard DWI charge — which is what Ventura Sorto faces — applies at a BAC of 0.08 or above and is a misdemeanor. Aggravated DWI applies when a driver’s BAC reaches 0.18 or higher and carries harsher mandatory consequences.
For a first-offense misdemeanor DWI conviction in New York, penalties include fines ranging from $500 to $1,000 plus surcharges, a minimum six-month license revocation, mandatory installation of an ignition interlock device, and up to one year in jail. Because Ventura Sorto was driving a commercial vehicle — a 2024 Hino box truck — he may also face separate consequences under federal and state commercial driver’s license regulations, which generally impose stricter BAC thresholds (0.04 for commercial vehicles) and career-limiting disqualifications. Drivers who refuse a chemical test in New York face an automatic one-year license revocation and a $500 civil penalty, independent of any criminal conviction — consequences that apply regardless of whether the underlying DWI charge results in a guilty plea or conviction.
Case Status & Updates
It is important to note that an arrest and criminal charge represent an accusation. Noel Ventura Sorto is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. His case is expected to proceed through First District Court in Central Islip and, depending on how the matter resolves, through the Suffolk County criminal court system.
Long Island Traffic monitors DWI arrests through the court process and will update this report as arraignment outcomes, any plea agreements, and sentencing information become part of the public record. Readers can follow ongoing accident coverage for Suffolk County on this site for the latest developments.
Broader Impact
Commercial vehicle DWI cases draw particular scrutiny because the size and weight disparity between a box truck and a passenger car dramatically increases injury potential in a rear-end collision. Suffolk County has seen a string of serious crashes along the Sunrise Highway corridor; a crash on NY-27 was recorded on the same evening, and the I-495 corridor saw a moderate crash the same day — underscoring the density of incident activity across Suffolk’s main arteries during evening commute hours.