Relatives of those killed in the Taconic Parkway wrong-way DWI tragedy have slammed NBC’s “Law & Order” for filming a fictionalized version of the case for the small screen.
The show is “grabbing a tragedy, and they’re going to get people to watch it,” said Michael Bastardi Jr., whose dad and brother died in the July crash.
The show “should not draw any conclusions — because they don’t know what happened yet. We’re still waiting for the police reports,” said Bastardi, 52.
“I hope [“Law & Order”] displays the horror of it, how evil it is — for a drunken mom high on marijuana to get in a van with five kids,” said Bastardi.
He said such a dramatization would probably be too painful for him to watch.
NBC “is highlighting a very sensational story for their own ratings,” said private detective Tom Ruskin of CMP Protective and Investigative Group, spokesman for Daniel Schuler, widower of dead drunken driver Diane.
In Harlem last Thursday, “Law & Order” filmed a scene for a future episode with an actress driving a van filled with young children. An NBC spokesperson declined to discuss details of the script.
Diane Schuler ran head-on into another vehicle and killed Bastardi’s dad, Michael Sr., his brother Guy and family friend Daniel Longo. Schuler’s daughter and three nieces also died.
Authorities said autopsy tests determined the Cablevision executive had a .19 blood-alcohol level and a very high level of THC from marijuana in her system when she died.
She drove at high speed the wrong way on a sunny day, just a few feet away from safety — a grassy median — but stayed in lane until she struck the Bastardis’ car and both vehicle burst into flames.
Bastardi spent yesterday with his lawyers and family at the Westchester DA’s office, trying to convince her to convene a grand jury in the case.
“It gives you doubts about the criminal-justice system. If seven innocent peoples’ deaths are not enough for a grand jury, I don’t know what is,” Bastardi said.
Bastardi said he wants Daniel Schuler to be put under oath and tell a grand jury about where Mrs. Schuler got the marijuana and vodka she ingested before the July 26 crash.
He said Westchester DA Janet DiFiore did not completely dismiss the possibility of a grand jury yesterday, but said there was no reason to do so at this time.