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Lawsuit filed in crash involving police vehicle The parents of a Massapequa girl injured in an automobile accident with a Nassau County Police vehicle have hired an attorney and plan to sue the county. John DiStefano, whose 18-year-old daughter Valerie was seriously injured in the accident July 31, said the officer operating the police vehicle was "unquestionably negligent" when he ran a stop sign and collided with the car in which his daughter was a passenger. The county maintains, however that the officer acted properly, had his emergency lights and siren on at the time he entered the intersection, and was not at fault. The accident occurred at 10 p.m. at Michigan and Grand Avenues. Accounts reported that Seventh Precinct officer, Brian McDermott, was answering a call for back up at the time of the accident. He entered the intersection and broad-sided the 2001 Nissan Sport utility in which Valerie was a passenger. The vehicle flipped over twice onto someone's front lawn. "Those kids had to be cut out of their car. Am I mad? You bet," said DiStefano whose daughter suffered a broken arm, nose and teeth in the accident. His lawyer, Alan Hodish of Garden City said that he is in the process of doing a comprehensive investigation into the accident. "The issue is whether or not that officer proceeded with due care into the intersection and we are in the process of determining that through witnesses and reports," said Hodish. "An independent witness, the officer and even two of the teen passengers said (the police car had its) lights and sirens were on," said Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a Nassau County Police spokesman. He added that according to the department's rules and procedures an officer is permitted to drive through stop signs, with caution, when responding to an emergency. There were two other occupants in the car with Valerie, a 17-year-old driver who suffered cuts and a 19-year-old male passenger who sustained injuries to his wrists. Another 17-year-old passenger was thrown from the car and suffered a fractured pelvis. A front seat passenger, a 19-year-old girl was unharmed. Police would not release their names. "I have spoken to witnesses who said the officer didn't have his siren or lights on," said DiStefano. "There are stop signs on every block in that area, so for him to have thrown the truck so far, he had to have been driving at a high rate of speed." Repalone said no criminal charges were filed against Officer McDermott but that the department is completing a safety board inquiry, the results of which are not public but will be included in the officer's permanent record. "It was just an unfortunate accident," he said. DiStefano said he was angry when he was told that the police department considered the matter closed. "I have never once heard from the police on the matter," he said. "There were no skid marks at the accident site from the police car, which means he didn't try to slow down. There are a lot of things we do not know about the accident, but we do know that he (McDermott) didn't look to see if anyone was coming." . The Massapequa, North Massapequa Fire Departments and Nassau County ambulances arrived on the scene and transported the injured to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. They have all since been released.
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