A suspect has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a 42-year-old off-duty Nassau County police officer in Saint James on Jan. 31, Suffolk County police said.
Matthew Smith, 20, of Hauppauge, was charged with driving while intoxicated, with additional counts anticipated, in the crash that killed Third Precinct Officer Patricia Espinosa and injured Smith’s passenger, 25-year-old John Andali of Centereach. Attorney and arraignment information was not immediately available.
“Officer Espinosa served with honor, courage, and compassion, and her death in a violent crash caused by a driver charged with DWI is a profound loss to our department, our county, and every community she protected,” Tommy Shevlin, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, the union the represents the department’s rank-and-file officers, said.
Suffolk police alleged that Smith was driving a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Alexander Avenue when he blew a red light and struck a 2019 Alfa Romeo heading westbound on Route 347 shortly after 6 a.m. Jan. 31.
Espinosa was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Smith and Andali were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the same hospital.
The victim leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter named Mia and husband Francisco Malaga, who is also a police officer, as are her two brothers, Christian and David Almeida, according to the PBA president.
“Patricia understood the sacrifices of this profession not just as an officer, but as a wife, a sister, and a mother in blue,” Shevlin said. “That her life was taken in such a senseless act makes this loss even more painful. We stand shoulder to shoulder with her family and our brothers and sisters in uniform, and we will honor her legacy by never forgetting her service, her sacrifice, and the family she leaves behind.”
Major Case Unit detectives impounded both vehicles while the investigation is continuing and ask anyone with information on the crash to call them at 631-852-6553.
