Nassau cop hit by drunk driver during traffic stop

A Nassau County police officer was seriously injured when a driver police say was drunk slammed into his car during a traffic stop early Sunday morning on the Long Island Expressway.

"We're all saying a prayer for him," said Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey outside Nassau University Medical Center Sunday afternoon, where the injured officer had just come out of surgery for a blood clot on the brain.

Doctors removed part of the 30-year-old officer's skull to relieve the swelling, according to Mulvey. He was then placed into a medically induced coma.

"The officer sustained very serious injuries including severe head trauma," Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said, as well as broken bones in both his upper and lower torso.

The accident happened at 5:50 a.m. on the eastbound lane by the Sunnyside Boulevard overpass near Exit 46 and halted traffic for more than five hours.

The Second Precinct police officer, who has not yet been identified, had pulled over a black KIA SUV to the right side of the road on suspicion of drunk driving when the driver of a silver Mercedes CLK320 plowed into the back of the police cruiser, propelling the police car into the SUV and lifting it six feet off the ground, police said. Witnesses say the Mercedes was traveling at about 75 miles per hour when it hit the patrol car. The officer was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

An unidentified New York City fire fighter, who witnessed the accident while traveling on the westbound side of the expressway on his way to work, gave aid to the police officer, and used the patrol car's transmitter to radio for help.

Mulvey had a conversation with the firefighter and described him as a very humble, quiet man who doesn't want publicity. "He just wanted to do what he could to help us," Mulvey said.

Unmarked police cars and media satellite trucks lined the parking lot to the emergency room Sunday afternoon. Inside the hospital, dozens of police officers waited outside the Intensive Care Unit for news on their colleague.

The passenger of the SUV was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. The SUV driver was not injured, and was charged with driving while intoxicated. The driver of the Mercedes, who also was not injured, was arrested on the scene and also charged with driving while intoxicated.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, two of the eastbound lanes have been opened for traffic.

By STACEY ALTHERR and EMERSON CLARRIDGE
Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008

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