A driver involved in two crashes on the Long Island Expressway which led to the death of a highway patrolman responding to the scene was released on bond Friday after pleading not guilty to vehicular manslaughter, DWI and other charges.
James Ryan, 25, of Oakdale, was arrested hours after the Nassau County police officer was killed at about 4:50 a.m. Thursday. A criminal complaint alleges the driver of an SUV apparently did not see Ryan’s vehicle — which had been turned sideways from an earlier crash in the pre-sunrise dawn — and smashed into Ryan’s car before hitting the police officer.
The person driving the 2002 Cadillac Escalade SUV hasn’t been charged or identified by police.
Ryan had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.09, slightly above the legal limit of 0.08, according to his attorney, Brian Davis. In addition to vehicular manslaughter and DWI, Ryan was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a controlled substance. A criminal complaint said Ryan had one pill for the drug Adderall when he was searched.
Davis said his client had a prescription for the stimulant, which is prescribed mainly for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The attorney said Friday that he would have to investigate legal precedents for charging his client with manslaughter.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” Davis said. “But it’s far too simplistic to say that but for my client this would not have happened. There were intervening events between the accident and the officer being struck.”
A spokesman for the district attorney did not immediately comment.
Officer Joseph Olivieri, a 13-year veteran of the Nassau police force, was killed after Ryan’s Toyota first struck a BMW on the eastbound lanes of the expressway, police said. Ryan continued down the road for a distance before stopping in the left lane of the three-lane primary highway, police said; a high occupancy lane adjoins the roadway on the left.
After Ryan’s vehicle stopped, according to police, his vehicle was struck by a Honda, turning the Toyota perpendicular to oncoming traffic. When Olivieri arrived on the scene, he parked on the right shoulder and crossed on foot toward the Toyota. That’s when the Cadillac SUV approached, ultimately striking Olivieri who later died.
County Executive Edward Mangano called it “a tragic day for the county and its police force.” He was the third Nassau officer killed in the line of duty in the past two years.
A funeral for Olivieri, the father of a 21-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son, will be held Monday, according to the president of the Nassau County police union.