An off-duty Suffolk County cop was killed early today when he crashed into a garbage truck that backed out of a parking lot and into oncoming traffic on Long Island, police said.
Officer Patrick Curley, 40, a 17-year veteran of the department, was pronounced dead on the scene after his SUV collided with the Winters Brothers rig as it backed out of a business on Route 25 in Commack at 3:33 a.m., police said.
The garbage truck, a huge front-end loader driven by 59-year-old James Jarosch, had room to pull a U-turn and exit the Arirang House Korean restaurant front-first, but instead backed out into the roadway where he may not have been able to see oncoming cars, Suffolk County Detective Lieutenant James Rooney said.
“[Front-first] would have been the safe way to do it,” Rooney said.
Jarosch was issued summonses for unsafe backing and an equipment violation, which are traffic violations. He was not injured in the crash.