Nassau County officer killed by tow truck driver

Nassau County police officer Michael J. Califano, 44, was killed while performing a traffic stop on the Long Island Expressway on Saturday, Feb. 5. Califano was assigned to the Highway Patrol Bureau, and was killed when his patrol car was struck by a truck as he conducted a vehicle stop.

Minutes before Califano was struck, he had pulled over a box truck on the Long Island Expressway, near exit 39, for insufficient lighting. According to the Nassau County Police Department, Califano’s patrol car was struck by a flatbed tow truck while he was sitting in the vehicle, writing a summons. The force of the impact pushed the patrol car under the box truck, and knocked the box truck into traffic. The flatbed truck ended up on top of the police car.

According to police, it took rescuers 30 minutes to cut through the roof of the patrol car and remove Califano. He was immediately taken to the Nassau University Medical Center, but died shortly thereafter, due to injuries he sustained from the accident.
The driver of the flatbed truck was arrested and charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide, three counts of assault, and failure to move over for an emergency vehicle.



Califano, who had served the Nassau County Police Department for 12 years, is survived by his wife and three children. Donations for Califano’s family can be made to the Michael J. Califano Memorial Fund, c/o Nassau County P.B.A., 89 E. Jericho Tpke., Mineola, NY 11501.