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Drunk driver hits N.Y. officer
Big Brown money going to N.Y. cop’s family
By Sid Cassese
Newsday (New York)
NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. — Kenneth Baribault, the Nassau County Police officer seriously injured by an alleged drunken driver on the Long Island Expressway, has filed a $50-million notice of claim against the county.
The claim charges that the county owns and maintains the “roadway,” and that it was “negligent, careless and reckless in the design, maintenance, repair and control” of the highway. It also claims that the county did not maintain nearby streets by “failing to place or properly place traffic control devices.” The claim notice, filed Thursday, did not give more specific details.
Nassau County Attorney Lorna Goodman noted that the Long Island Expressway is a state road maintained by the New York Department of Transportation. She said the county did not design the highway. “Nassau County has no liability in this situation,” she said. “We patrol the expressway for the state.”
Baribault and his family could not be reached. But his Woodbury lawyer, Marvin Salenger, said, “This area is very dangerous. This was a case of an accident waiting to happen.”
He said, “We have not finished our investigation, but we had to make sure that we served the notice of claim within the statutory time of 90 days.”
Salenger said this is the second client of his, both Nassau County police officers, in a about a year to be hit by a car. He said both were struck “with their lights flashing.” He added that the other officer was Edward Martinez, who was hit May 3, 2007, near Exit 43. Baribault was hit between exits 46 and 48. “Something is wrong on this road,” Salenger said.
Salenger admitted that it is “unclear who really owns the road there,” but said he was “covering our bases by naming the county.” He said Baribault also filed a claim notice with the state.
The claim notice said it was “for past and future pain and suffering, past and future loss of earnings, future medical expenses and other damages.”
Baribault, 30, was injured on May 18 when an apparently intoxicated motorist smashed into his car on the Long Island Expressway as he ran a query on a stopped alleged drunken driver.
The officer, who still cannot speak or move his right arm or legs, now can chew and swallow, and lift a fork to his mouth with his left hand, his two sisters said at a news conference last week. They cautioned, though, that his recovery will be very slow.
Baribault is now in rehabilitation for brain trauma and a shattered pelvis.
More than $40,000 was raised at a benefit for Baribault Thursday at Mulcahy’s Bar in Wantagh. That is in addition to about $100,000 raised earlier, including $50,000 from the owners of the race horse Big Brown.
Nassau County PBA president James Carver, who led the Mulcahy’s benefit, said he had “no comment” on the legal action.
Copyright 2008 Newsday (New York)