He was arrested by Suffolk County Police June 13 at about 8:20 p.m. while heading west on the Long Island Expressway's north service road at Exit 53 and Wicks Road in Brentwood, according to police.
An officer observed the damaged 2007 Saturn he was driving swerving on the highway and failing to stay within the marked lanes, according to the police report of the incident. When an officer interviewed Mr. Zimbler, his eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred and his breath smelled of alcohol, the police report said, adding that he had difficulty keeping his balance and failed a field sobriety test.
Mr. Zimbler also submitted to a breath test at Second Precinct in Huntington at about 9:35 p.m., and his blood alcohol content registered at .13 percent, according to police. Under New York State law, anything over .08 percent is considered driving while intoxicated. As is customary on DWI arrests, Mr. Zimbler was charged under two statutes, one relating to the officer's observation and one to the breath test.
Mr. Zimbler pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance from Suffolk Criminal Court on June 14. He is due back in court on Aug. 14.
"I would like nothing more than to erase this evening from existence, but I cannot," Mr. Zimbler said in a letter to the News-Review. (See page 8.) He added, "I must live with what happened for the rest of my life."
A Commack resident, Mr. Zimbler, 37, has served as principal for one year in Riverhead. Before that, he was a middle school principal in the Malverne School District in Nassau County. Superintendent Diane Scricca also came to Riverhead from Malverne last year.
Riverhead Board of Education President Kathy Berezny had no comment on the arrest, saying it was a personnel issue, referring questions to Dr. Scricca.
"The Board will issue a statement within the next 10 days regarding this situation," Dr. Scricca said Tuesday. "Mr. Zimbler will not be terminated but there will be consequences for his action."
Board vice president Chrissy Prete said the school board had been told about the arrest in an executive session meeting.
The arrest was first reported by Newsday July 31.
"I can't believe it," Ms. Prete said. "I'm extremely disappointed. It's a shame because he was a really good principal, and for him to make this kind of mistake is just stupid. This is a huge setback. We were really moving ahead."
Ms. Prete said she fears students will not respect Mr. Zimbler now and said the district needs to have a policy for how to deal with DWI arrests of employees and administrators.
Several students had already begun criticizing, and in some cases ridiculing, the principal on Internet sites like MySpace and Facebook by Friday.
Dr. Scricca said the district has no policy on dealing with drunk driving arrests.
"That's something we have to work on," Ms. Prete said. "This is not the first time something like this has happened in Riverhead."
Ms. Prete said the district needs to look at other districts' policies. She also suggested random drug testing for all district employees is needed. Ms. Prete added that the district cannot discipline Mr. Zimbler now because he has not been convicted.
Laurie Downs, a former Parent-Teacher Organization executive council president who served on the committee that recommended hiring Mr. Zimbler, said the incident "was reckless behavior and a bad decision, and I, as a taxpayer, am very concerned about his decision-making as a principal. This administration and board has attacked and reprimanded coaches and teachers for things like speaking out at meetings and covering security cameras. This is far worse. He could have killed someone, or himself."
Mr. Zimbler said in his letter that he would like to use the incident as a "teachable moment" to try and sway students from making the same mistake.
"I want nothing more than to prove to the members of the board of education, the Riverhead community, the Riverhead High School staff, and, most importantly, the children of Riverhead High School, that I have learned from my mistake and that my ultimate goal is student achievement," he wrote.
e-mail: tgannon@timesreview.com