By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Friday that a Far Rockaway man has been indicted for allegedly driving his three children to school while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, speeding and then crossing a double yellow line and hitting a school bus head on. All three children were injured, two of them seriously.
Deslances, 42, of Broad Channel Drive, was arraigned on Friday on a 21-count indictment charging him with three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, three counts of vehicular assault in the first degree, vehicular assault in the second degree, three counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by combined use of drugs or of alcohol and drugs, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by use of drugs, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, operating a motor vehicle without a passenger properly restrained with seatbelt or safety seat and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis ordered Deslances to return to court on Feb. 4.
Katz said that, according to the charges and court records, on Nov. 18, 2024, at approximately 8:25 a.m., Deslances was driving his three children, ages 15, 11 and 5, to school on Brookville Boulevard. The three children were in the back seat of the 2008 Acura SUV.
Deslances was allegedly speeding and following too closely behind another vehicle. When the driver of that car braked, Deslances – in an effort to pass that vehicle – crossed the double yellow line on the two-lane road, hitting another vehicle and then the school bus head on.
Just before the crash, the two older children removed their seatbelts and buckled them over their younger sibling who was not belted.
The oldest child was taken to the hospital with multiple fractures to the face. The 11-year-old suffered multiple spinal cord fractures and a deep cut to the face. The youngest was treated for a cut to the head. The school bus driver was treated for head pain and nausea.
Deslances’ blood alcohol content was .17 percent, above the Driving While Intoxicated threshold of .08 percent. He also tested positive for the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
At the time of the crash, Deslances was allegedly driving with a suspended license.
A court-authorized search of Deslances’s car found multiple marijuana cigarettes and an open bottle of beer.
“The defendant, as alleged, made the irresponsible and selfish decision to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol and consuming marijuana, putting the lives of his own children at risk as well as everyone else on the road,” Katz said. “There is absolutely no excuse for driving while impaired and the grand jury returned very serious charges against the defendant.”
If convicted, Deslances faces up to five to 15 years in prison.
