Ex-superintendent had ‘bloodshot glassy eyes’ and ‘slurred speech’ at Sayville crash scene, police say

A former superintendent of three Long Island school districts showed signs he had been driving drunk following his involvement in a crash in Sayville on Sunday night, according to Suffolk County court documents.

Michael Hynes, 53, who served as the schools chief for Shelter Island, Patchogue-Medford and most recently Port Washington, had “bloodshot glassy eyes, slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet” while interviewed by police in the moments after he crashed his Honda Civic into a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, according to court documents.

Hynes, a Sayville resident, was arraigned Monday on a first-offense DWI charge at First District Court in Central Islip. The 9:05 p.m. crash sent the motorcycle rider, 63-year-old Alberto Fernandez of Sayville, to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore with serious injuries, police said.

Hynes was treated for minor injuries at the same hospital before being taken into police custody and spending a night in jail at Suffolk Police’s Sixth Precinct, police said.

“A field sobriety test was performed and clues did show signs of impairment,” reads the misdemeanor complaint against Hynes.

At the hospital, Hynes consented to a blood test that was administered at 12:50 a.m., according to the complaint. The results of a blood kit are pending, the court document says.

Greater Long Island has reached out to Hynes for comment. This report will be updated, as necessary.

Long career in education

The incident came within days of Hynes’ resignation as superintendent of the Port Washington Union Free School District.

Hynes has worked in education for more than 26 years, and has achieved some national notoriety for his outspoken stances against Common Core and standardized testing, as well as for his call to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2017, he delivered a well-reviewed TEDx Talk, during which he discussed the importance of a holistic approach to educating children and emphasized the importance of play and recess in schools and yoga and mindfulness in the classroom.

Prior coverage

Former Pat-Med superintendent Michael Hynes charged with DWI in Sayville crash

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