GPD arrest woman under Leandra’s Law

Sunday, October 6, 2024 - 11:51

GUILDERLAND — A Massachusetts woman has been charged under Leandra’s Law because, police say, she was driving high with two children in the car.

At about 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, Guilderland police stopped a car in the Walgreens parking lot at 2061 Western Ave. and found the driver, Erica A. Winters-Freehoffer, 45, of Lenox, Massachusetts, was “under the influence of drugs,” according to an Oct. 6 release from the department.

Two children, both under the age of 16, were passengers, the release said.

Winters-Freehoffer was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, two counts of driving while ability impaired by drugs with a child in the vehicle, a felony known as Leandra’s Law, and also  with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Leandra’s Law is named for Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old who was killed in 2009 when her friend’s mother flipped her car while driving drunk.

Leandra’s Law makes it an automatic felony to drive drunk or under the influence of drugs with a person age 15 or younger inside the car.

Winters-Freehoffer was arraigned in Guilderland Town Court and was released on her own recognizance. She is due back in court at a later date and both children were turned over to the custody of a family member.

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