Crash kills Nassau cop during traffic stop
A veteran Nassau police officer died early Saturday after a flatbed truck driven by a man who had dozed off slammed into the rear of his stopped patrol car on the Long Island Expressway, police said.
Officer Michael J. Califano, 44, was pronounced dead about 12:30 a.m. at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, police said.
Califano, of Wantagh, had been an officer since 1998 and was a member of the Highway Patrol Unit.
"This is a sad day for Nassau County, but a sadder day for the family of Officer Califano," said Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, who said he had known Califano and his family for years.
He said Califano is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, and three children, ages 6 to 13.
"It's very difficult to see a family in pain," Mangano said.
Police said at 10:50 p.m. Friday, Califano had pulled over a box truck for insufficient lighting in the LIE's westbound lanes near Exit 39 in Old Westbury.
As he sat in his patrol car, a second truck slammed into him from behind. That flatbed, which was carrying a Nissan, sent the patrol car under the box truck.
The box truck was knocked into traffic, and the flatbed ended up on top of the police car, police said.
"It's like he's driving over the patrol car," said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department. "The front of the police car submarines under the box truck."
It took rescuers 30 minutes to remove the roof of the police car and free the gravely injured Califano. He was pronounced dead at the hospital about 90 minutes after the crash.
The box truck driver and his passenger suffered minor injuries, officials said. They were treated at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola and released.
The driver of the flatbed truck, identified as John Kaley, 25, of New Britain, Conn., was charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide, three counts of assault and failure to move over for an emergency vehicle, police said.
He was arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Hempstead and held without bail.
In court papers, police said that Kaley told them he was "pushing it to get back to Connecticut." His fiancee was asleep in the passenger seat, officials said. Both suffered minor injuries.
Kaley told police that another driver cut him off, but he later said that he didn't notice Califano's car on the shoulder.
The criminal complaint states that Kaley "fell asleep and failed to keep his vehicle under control" and that his truck "left the right lane and violently crashed into two cars."
About 25 uniformed Nassau police officers were in the courtroom for Kaley's arraignment.
Kaley, who has a 2-year-old daughter, was represented by a Legal Aid attorney.
At a news conference Saturday, Det. Lt. John Azzata said that Kaley likely didn't slow down before the accident.
Nassau County Police Benevolent Association president Jim Carver said of Califano, "I don't think he had a chance."
Kaley was cited in January and February 2010 in Connecticut for alleged reckless driving, Nassau County police said. Police didn't know whether he had been convicted.
Two Nassau patrol cars blocked off the entrance to the Califano home Saturday afternoon. Another police car blocked the adjacent street entrance from Wantagh Avenue.
The westbound lanes of the highway in Old Westbury were closed all night as police investigated; they reopened about 8 a.m. Saturday.
Kaley also was cited for violating a new state law that requires motorists to slow down and move away from emergency vehicles that are stopped and have their lights activated.
In Nassau, eight people have been cited for violating the new law, police said. The Ambrose-Searles Move Over Act went into effect Jan. 1.
"It was created for this very thing," Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said.
A violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to $275, along with two points on a driver's license.
Gov. David A. Paterson signed the act into law last summer. It is named in honor of State Trooper Robert W. Ambrose and Onondaga County Sheriff Glenn M. Searles, who were killed while their patrol vehicles were stopped on the side of the road.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 160 law enforcement officers have been killed in the United States after being struck by vehicles while on U.S. highways since 1999.
In 2009, Nassau Officer Kenneth Baribault Jr., 30, was seriously injured when an allegedly intoxicated motorist smashed into his car on the Long Island Expressway. Baribault had been running a query on another alleged drunken driver.
With Stacey Altherr, Emily Dooley and Aisha Al-Muslim
Posted Saturday, February 5, 2011
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