Suffolk prosecutor Joseph Carroll fired after arrest in alleged drunken-driving crash, DA's office says

A Suffolk prosecutor was fired after his arrest for a morning drunken-driving crash in Quogue Village Tuesday, according to records and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Joseph Carroll, 67, of Southampton, was charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle while heading south on Quogue-Riverhead Road at 9:02 a.m., according to a copy of a criminal complaint obtained by Newsday.

"I bumped his rear bumper," Carroll told a responding officer, charging documents show.

Carroll, who worked in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office East End Bureau, which prosecutes cases in the justice courts serving the five East End towns, told police he had consumed alcohol the night before, on Labor Day, according to a criminal complaint. He was fired from the district attorney’s office Tuesday, a spokesperson said.

"Upon learning of the troubling allegations in this case, the District Attorney terminated this individual’s part-time employment," communications director Anna Sokol said in a statement. "We also requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to handle the criminal case, and we expect that request to be granted."

Carroll was arraigned Tuesday before Quogue Village Justice Francis Fineo. The charge is not bail eligible and he was released on his own recognizance.

Defense attorney Keith O’Halloran, of Westhampton Beach, said his client pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations.

"He has had an unblemished career dedicated to law enforcement," O’Halloran said in a text message. "We look forward to contesting the charges and fighting the case in court."

Court records show Carroll had a "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, his eyes were red, bloodshot and glassy, his speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet." The responding officer reported in the complaint that walk-and-turn and one-leg stand attempts were not completed for Carroll’s own safety.

"These tests were performed poorly, indicative of an intoxicated condition," the complaint reads.

Carroll refused a chemical test at 10:50 a.m. and twice more in the 30 minutes that followed, records show.

Lt. Daniel Hartman, of the Quogue Village Police Department, confirmed the crash occurred at the intersection of Quogue-Riverhead Road and Montauk Highway. He said the arrest was made at 9:58 a.m. In addition to misdemeanor DWI, Carroll was charged with following too closely, a violation, Hartman said.

Carroll was admitted to the New York Bar Association in 1987, state records show. He attended law school at St. Louis University.

Suffolk County payroll records show Carroll was hired in February 2024 and earned $127,144 as a senior assistant district attorney last year, according to a database maintained by Newsday. He also served an earlier stint with the office that ended in 2019, the records show.

Newsday's Sandra Peddie contributed to this story.