Richard Brusa, Nassau police detective, dies
Hundreds of fellow officers paid final respects for Detective Brusa.
For hundreds of families in Nassau County, Det. Richard Brusa was known as the police officer who brought terrible news that a loved one had died in a car accident.
But Brusa, of East Northport, a decorated officer who spent 30 years in the Nassau County police homicide squad's vehicular crimes and reconstruction section, always handled delicate situations with the utmost care and gentleness, said Det. Lt. Michael Fleming, the squad's commanding officer. "He really made us proud, the way he dealt with these victims," he said.
Brusa died of a heart attack Tuesday while working out on a treadmill at a gym, his family said. He was 59.
"He was so caring to people who were going through what I'm going through," said his wife, Jacquelyn.
"When you inform a family that their loved one isn't coming home, you know you're changing their lives forever," Fleming said. "Detective Brusa did that over and over again. He never became jaded. He never became callous."
Raised in Flushing, Brusa attended City College in Manhattan and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics.
He applied those logistical skills to a demanding job involving accident reconstruction and data analysis, said his brother-in-law Rocky Colavito. "He was one of the foremost experts on vehicular homicide in the world," said Colavito, of Hauppauge.
In late 2006, Brusa was tapped by the military to help reconstruct and analyze a fatal accident in Kuwait, Colavito said. A Kuwaiti truck driver had slammed into a military convoy and died, and the Army sergeant in charge of the convoy faced charges of criminally negligent homicide.
Brusa's testimony persuaded Army authorities to drop the charges and not take the case to court-martial. "Helping to save that soldier's career was one of the highlights of his career," Fleming said. "It was tremendously rewarding."
An avid cyclist, Brusa biked with friends in marathons around the country, Colavito said. He was also a devoted father to his two sons, Jacquelyn Brusa said. "He worked hard for us and worked lots of overtime to provide for us and to have a good life, which we did," she said. "I just wish he got to enjoy it."
Brusa received numerous awards for his police work, including Man of the Year in 2007 from the Nassau County Police Department Detectives' Association. The night before he died, Brusa was honored again at the department's annual awards night.
A funeral is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Saturday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport, followed by burial at Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury. Brusa also is survived by sons Richard, of San Francisco, and Jonathan, of East Northport; parents, Lino and Eda, of Coral Springs, Fla.; and brother Ronald, of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.
Posted Friday, April 18, 2008
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