Driver Arrested On DWI Charge After Plowing Into Boy Scouts

MANORVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — A driver who plowed into a group of Boy Scouts walking along the shoulder of a road on Long Island — seriously injuring one of them — was arrested on drunken driving charges.

Thomas Murphy, 59, of Holbrook, was driving a 2016 Mercedes in Manorville just before 2 p.m. Sunday when he struck and injured five scouts from Troop 161, according to Suffolk County police.

The victims, ranging in age from 12 to 16, were all hospitalized. One of them was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital in critical condition, police said. The conditions of the others were not immediately known.

A man who said he didn't see the vehicle hit the scouts but witnessed the immediate aftermath of the accident described it as "chaos."

"The one kid was unconscious, the other one was in a lot of pain and crying," Sean Bryan, 37, told Newsday.

Bryan said there were about a dozen scouts walking with adults. He said the driver remained at the scene.

Murphy is to be arraigned on Monday in First District Court in Central Islip. Information on his lawyer wasn't immediately available.