An 84-year-old Long Island grandmother was struck and killed by a driver who told cops he lost control of his car because he had spilled hot coffee on his pants – but who was arrested after a Post reporter and photographer found pills and drug paraphernalia near the scene, police said.
Bradley Dorman, 48, allegedly drove onto a lawn and knocked over a mailbox, then swerved back into the street and struck Kate Porto in Greenlawn at about 8 p.m. Monday as she walked on her block.
The grandmother of 20 and great-grandmother of five was thrown onto the windshield of the 2003 Chevrolet Malibu.
Dorman was initially charged only with two minor driving infractions: failure to keep right and failure to exercise due caution.
But a Post reporter and photographer found a glass pipe and more than a dozen pills on a lawn 15 feet from the impact.
As a result, Suffolk cops last night charged Dorman with driving while ability impaired by drugs, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, cops said.
Suffolk Detective Sgt. Steven Bluethgen said the 14 white pills found by The Post “will be tested at the lab, but it appears to be OxyContin. Obviously, The Post’s efforts helped in the investigation.”
Dorman, of Greenport, had previously been arrested for driving under the influence of drugs in Northport, cops said.
The former debt consolidator is also under federal indictment in Brooklyn for an alleged $24 million scam targeting debtors.
Dorman told cops he had spilled coffee onto his lap and was wiping it when he swerved. Officers said there was a cup of coffee in the car and the seat was wet.
Bluethgen said Dorman later made admissions and submitted to a blood test, which was sent to the lab. The pipe will be subjected to fingerprint and DNA tests, “and there may be additional charges,” Bluethgen said.
Dorman will be arraigned on the two new misdemeanor charges today at Suffolk First District Court in Central Islip.
“Wonderful,” said Charles Porto, 87, husband of the dead woman, when notified of the arrest. “He’s in jail now? Good – that’s where he belongs.”
Porto said he rushed down the block and tried to comfort his dying wife after she was struck.
“I said, ‘Kate, I’m here – you’re going to be all right.’ She tried to talk but couldn’t.
“At the hospital, I held her hand and I kissed her. I told her I loved her,” he said. It was their final kiss after 64 years of marriage.
“She was lovely,” he said. “She was a wonderful wife and mother.”