A drunk driver who attempted to enter the Riverhead Correctional Facility parking lot was arrested Friday night for Driving While Intoxicated and possession of a “ghost gun.”
On 01/21/22, at approximately 10:44 p.m., Daniel Apolinario, 24, of Bay Shore, entered the Riverhead Correctional Facility parking lot by way of the employee entrance. He then turned around and attempted to exit the jail grounds the wrong way through the visiting entrance. The Deputy Sheriff working the security booth at the entrance stopped the vehicle and interviewed polinario who appeared to be intoxicated.
During a search incidental to the arrest, a loaded handgun with no serial number, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” was discovered beneath the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Apolinario refused to give a statement about the firearm and Daniel Apolinariorefused to consent to a breath test. The vehicle was impounded and the firearm was collected as evidence and sent to the crime lab for analysis.
Apolinario was charged with Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd and 4th degrees, Driving While Intoxicated, Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st and 2nd degrees, and multiple traffic infractions. His DWI charge was upgraded to a felony due to a prior DWI conviction in 2017.
“Getting this untraceable “ghost gun” off the street will undoubtedly save a life in the future,” said Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. “The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to improving the safety and security of all of Suffolk’s residents, and an arrest like this goes a long way to achieving this goal. We may never know the unthinkable crimes that may have been prevented by getting this person and this gun off the street.”
All information contained in this release has been provided for general informational purposes only. To the extent that pending criminal matters are discussed, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
For more information on the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office Policing Division, please visit www.suffolksheriff.com
Additional Deputies responded to the scene and conducted a field sobriety test on Apolinario, who was found to be intoxicated. He was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.
