Kings Park teen killed when roommate's car hits tree

Suffolk County police are investigating a DWI crash that killed a Kings Park teen Thursday morning. Police say Devin Cholodenko, 19, of Riverhead, was driving around 12:31 a.m. in Smithtown, when the

News 12 Staff

Jul 7, 2008, 9:56 AM

Updated 6,016 days ago

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Suffolk County police are investigating a DWI crash that killed a Kings Park teen Thursday morning.
Police say Devin Cholodenko, 19, of Riverhead, was driving around 12:31 a.m. in Smithtown, when the car struck a guard rail and then a tree. The crash killed his passenger and roommate at SUNY Albany, 19-year-old Scott Lamm.
According to police, Chodenko was ejected from the car and taken to Stony Brook University Hospital Medical Center with a broken pelvis. He was arrested and charged with DWI, but could face more serious charges.
?There was certain evidence that we recovered at the scene, along with his physical condition, which brought us to the determination,? Detective Lt. Gregory Byrne says.
Police across the Island are stepping up measures before the Fourth of July holiday to prevent such alleged drunken driving accidents. In Nassau, police are using license plate scanners to detect repeat DWI offenders.
The scanners are not new, but for the first time the computer will be used to tell officers if the car they?re following is registered to a repeat offender.
?There's a new database where DWI offenders were put into the system and it'll let you know if one of the plates comes back to a previous DWI offender,? Kenny Banner, of the Nassau County Police Department, says.
Click for more on the license plate scanners