A 27-year-old drunken driver in Long Island crashed his vehicle into an Officer on the Long Island Expressway this past May. The trial for the case has begun in the judicial system.
In court, the family of the Nassau County Police officer was very emotional while listening to the lawyers defend the man being charged in the drunken driving accident that almost killed the young father. His mother, Patricia, father, Kenneth, sisters, Danielle and Jennifer, vowed to attend every day of the high profile trial for the offender — a Long Island man accused of driving drunk and speeding recklessly at 70 mph into the officer while he was sitting inside his flashing patrol car writing a ticket for another alleged drunk he’d just pulled over on the Long Island Expressway.
“It’s emotionally upsetting for us. It’s hard to talk about, so we’re just trying to do the best we can,” said the victim’s sister, adding she was thankful for the blue wall of officers in attendance from the Nassau County Police Department. “My brother appreciates it. We all do.”
The family wept during the first day of the chilling testimony describing how the intelligent, dedicated, athletic Nassau cop was discovered in his crushed cruiser, unresponsive, unconscious and with massive head trauma by a city firefighter and colleagues that rushed in to save his life. The 30-year-old officer is paralyzed on his right side, able to speak only in single syllables.
“Even the speech, everything [is overwhelming], but he’s always been a hard worker,” the victim’s father said.
The defense claimed that it was the drinking and driving that caused the vehicle to crash, but a mechanical problem with a bad tire.
“When you put a drunk person behind the wheel of a car, this kind of a crash becomes inevitable,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. “Unfortunately, in this case, a police officer was the victim.”
