A Bethpage man was arrested for allegedly driving while high when he used his minivan to pin his pregnant fiancé against a bridge on the Northern State Parkway in Carle Place over the weekend, New York State police said.
A state Trooper spotted Joseph Cirella behind the wheel of a Dodge Caravan while using the minivan to pin a frantically screaming woman against a bridge abutment near exit 32 at 2:22 p.m. Saturday, police said.
The Trooper ordered the 50-year-old suspect to free the woman, who’s 14 weeks pregnant, police said. She was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where she was treated and released.
Police said that Cirella and the victim got into an argument over Cirella’s erratic driving when the woman became frightened and asked him to let her out of the vehicle. Police said he initially refused, but then tried to push her out of the moving vehicle before she escaped. That’s when police said Cirella pinned her against the bridge.
Cirella was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful imprisonment, menacing, reckless endangerment and driving while ability impaired by drugs.
His bail was set at $20,000. He is due back in Nassau County court Wednesday.
