DWI suspect 'beat the system' by getting NJ license
As a Nassau County police officer clung to life Monday, authorities said the alleged drunken driver who crashed into him "beat the system" by getting a driver's license in New Jersey, even though his license in New York had been suspended.
Officer Kenneth Baribault remained in critical condition at Nassau University Medical Center. The head of the surgery department, Dr. Glenn Faust, said Monday that the officer had "sat up in bed a little bit" when he heard family members' voices.
His mother and other relatives kept vigil in the intensive care unit. His sisters said he often works overtime at Nassau's Second Precinct to pay for his 6-year-old son's extracurricular activities. They also said their brother expected to graduate in July from Empire State College with a bachelor's degree in history.
Baribault, 30, was injured when a silver Mercedes CLK320 plowed into his police cruiser at 5:50 a.m. Sunday on the east side of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 46 in Plainview. Baribault, who was the valedictorian of his class at the Nassau Police Academy, was sitting in his car after having administered a field sobriety test to another suspected drunken driver, whom he had pulled over earlier.
In the wake of the crash, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said yesterday he would propose stepping up drunken driving patrols.
"It's not appropriate to call these accidents," Suozzi said of alcohol-influenced crashes. "These are conscious decisions by people to get behind the wheel of the car when they've been drinking."
DMV records show that the driver who hit Baribault, Rahiem Griffin, 27, of Shirley, had his New York driver's license suspended in 2000 and 2006 for unpaid tickets. He had been cited for breaking the state seat belt law on two separate occasions and for a lapse in insurance coverage.
DMV records show that the driver who hit Baribault, Rahiem Griffin, 27, of Shirley, had his New York driver's license suspended in 2000 and 2006 for unpaid tickets.
Nassau County police said Monday that even though "fines were piling up" in New York, Griffin obtained a license in New Jersey, apparently by dropping the middle initial in his name -- "A." Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey said Griffin "beat the system."
He added: "There's a reciprocal agreement. If you're suspended here, you can't be licensed in New Jersey. He merely dropped off his initial. For some reason, the State of New Jersey issued him a license. ... It should not be that easy."
Michael Horan, a spokesman for New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission, said New Jersey officials apparently had no knowledge that Griffin's license in New York had been suspended -- otherwise they never would have granted him one.
"Regardless of a middle initial, it [New Jersey's system] would detect it if there any other suspension," he said. "It should have picked up on that."
He added that New Jersey also uses the National Driver Register, the federal database of suspended and revoked drivers. Horan said New Jersey authorities were investigating whether Griffin had gone to another state to obtain a license before applying for one in New Jersey. That might have been another way to try to get around the system, since the New York suspension might not have appeared on the other state license, he said.
Griffin's license in New Jersey was issued in March 2007 and suspended in February 2008 for violations related to failing to pay a parking ticket, Horan said.
Griffin, who was also injured in the crash, was arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead wearing a hospital gown tied at the back.
Kisha Glisson, Griffin's sister, said before the arraignment that her brother is a "social drinker."
"I'm sorry that he made such a senseless mistake," she said. Asked whether there was alcohol involved in the crash on Sunday, she said, "There was definitely alcohol involved."
A half dozen of Griffin's relatives stood in the front row of the courtroom gallery, all looking shaken. Prosecutors said Griffin had bloodshot eyes when he was arrested and a blood-alcohol level of .12. Motorists can be charged with driving while intoxicated when their blood alcohol content is .08 or higher.
Prosecutors also said an officer overheard Griffin say that he'd dozed off while driving, and that Griffin admitted at another point he'd been drinking Bacardi and cola.
In addition to driving while intoxicated, Griffin was charged with assault, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and unlicensed operator.
His attorney, Anthony J. Colleluori, argued for bail of $2,500, saying his client "has never been in trouble before." But the judge, David Goodsell, set bail at $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash.
As Griffin was being led away, one of his family members called out, "I love you, Rahiem."
Hours earlier, the driver of the first car that Baribault initially pulled over, Marcin Bykuc, 25, of Bay Shore, was arraigned on charges of driving without a license and driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or higher. His attorney, Robert Brunetti of Garden City, pleaded not guilty on his client's behalf.
Prosecutors said two tests for alcohol showed Bykuc had blood-alcohol levels of .12 percent and .09 percent. They said police also detected a strong odor of alcohol and glassy eyes.
Goodsell ordered Bykuc held on $2,500 bond or $1,250 cash bail, and ordered his license suspended. His attorney said bail would likely be posted.
Andrew Scharff contributed to this story.
Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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