By Jennifer Maloney and Steve Ritea
Newsday
NEW YORK — A driver who police said was unlicensed and drunk slammed into a Nassau police car parked on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway while the officer inside was finishing up paperwork -- leaving the officer and the driver’s passenger in critical condition, police said.
At 5:44 a.m. yesterday, highway patrol Officer Gennaro Ferraro was in the driver’s seat of his marked police vehicle, which was stopped on the shoulder of the expressway near Exit 48. His car was struck by a rented 2007 Pontiac driven by Paul Reid Jr., 24, a Brentwood man with a checkered driving record, police said.
Ferraro, Reid and Reid’s passenger, Jorge Roman, 24, also of Brentwood, were taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where Ferraro and Roman were in critical but stable condition, hospital spokeswoman Shelley Lotenberg said.
Ferraro’s brother, Domenic Ferraro, of Lindenhurst, said his younger sibling is “banged up” but “doing pretty good.”
He said his brother is married, with three children, and has been on the force about 20 years. “He’s well loved,” Domenic Ferraro said. “He’s got a lot of friends.”
His brother grew up on Long Island. “He’s very private,” he said.
Ferraro suffered head and back trauma, and Roman a possible fractured leg, police said. Reid has a possible collapsed lung, police said. His condition was not available yesterday.
Reid was arrested on several charges, including second-degree vehicular assault, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and driving while intoxicated.
Attempts to reach Reid’s family were unsuccessful, although Suffolk courts note this is not his first brush with the law. Records indicate Reid either pleaded guilty to or was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2000 and 2001.
State motor vehicle records indicate his license was suspended or revoked multiple times in 2005 for driving without insurance, driving an unregistered vehicle and failing to pay fines and respond to summonses.
Yesterday’s accident was not weather-related, police said.
At their Northport home last night, Ferraro’s wife declined to comment.
Copyright 2007 Newsday