Traffic cop hit by car seriously hurt Officer was near site of school bus accident where 19 students, two drivers were injured BY JOSEPH MALLIA
joseph.mallia@newsday.com
8:18 AM EST, February 25, 2009
A Suffolk County police officer was hit by a car and seriously injured as he was directing traffic Tuesday night in Yaphank near the scene of an earlier school bus accident that left 19 students and two drivers with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Officer Thomas Wilson was taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center where he was in admitted in intensive care for treatment of head and back injuries.
Wilson had been on duty near Main Street at Everett Drive at around 7:45 p.m. when he was hit by a car. The Seventh Precinct officer was still hospitalized Wednesday morning, but no further details on his condition were available, police said.
The driver of the 2000 Infinity that hit the police officer, Marie Crowley, 67, of West Moylan Lane, Coram, was not injured.
In the earlier collision between a school bus and a box truck, 17 students and both drivers and were taken to hospitals Tuesday, police said. Details on their conditions were not immediately available Wednesday morning, police said.
The Longwood Junior High School bus was hit by a box truck as the bus driver tried to make a left turn from southbound County Road 21 onto eastbound Longwood Road in Middle Island at about 5:25 p.m., police said.
The bus was driven by Claudia Carson, 49, of Adam Street, East Islip. The box truck was driven northbound on County Road 21 by Steven Kvit, 54, of Raimond Street, Yaphank.
The accident was just north of Middle Island Country Club and east of Cathedral Pines County Park, near Longwood High School and the headwaters of the Carmans River.
Tuesday night at the Stony Brook University Medical Center, the parent of one Longwood student said that by the time he reached the scene of the accident his daughter had already been taken to the hospital.
The parent, Michael Parker, said he rushed to the crash scene after his wife received a phone call from his daughter's friend on the school bus, saying they had been in an accident and that Parker's daughter, Miasya, 12, was bleeding badly from her head.
"I thought the worst when the police officer said she was airlifted here," said Parker, 39, who was waiting in the emergency room with his family for an update on Miasya's condition.
The family was relieved when they learned that Miasya's X-rays showed no serious head injuries. After seeing his daughter for a few minutes, Parker said she was shaken up and that she had a big gash on her neck. Parker said that Miasya, who was taking the late bus home from basketball practice at Longwood Junior High School, rides the school bus every day.
Seventh Squad detectives are investigating both accidents, and ask anyone with relevant information to call them at 631-852-8752.
