NYPD officer Andre Menzies killed by wrong-way drunk driver on way home from work

NYPD officer Andre Menzies killed by wrong-way drunk driver on way home from work

 

 

 

An off-duty NYPD cop was killed early Monday when his car was struck by a boozed-up Brooklyn man driving the wrong way on Long Island, authorities said.

Officer Andre Menzies, 35, was heading home from work on the Northern State Parkway in Suffolk County about 12:05 a.m. when Michael Bowens - heading west in the eastbound lanes - barreled into him, authorities said.

"It was a head-on crash," Tom Magno, assistant chief of the Dix Hills Volunteer Fire Department, told the Daily News. "He was probably killed on impact."

Magno said New York State troopers got a report of a wrong-way motorist on the parkway, but could not track him down before tragedy struck.

Menzies, is a nine-year NYPD veteran, was assigned to the Housing Bureau in Queens. He lived in North Babylon, L.I., with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 7.

"On behalf of the entire Police Department, I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Police Officer Andre Menzies," NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement. "His young children are left without a father as a result of a senseless accident."

Bowens, 50, of Brownsville, was busted for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, authorities said. He flunked a field sobriety test, Mayor Bloomberg said at City Hall.

Bowens, who was operating a Ford van, was treated at an area hospital for minor injuries.

"He had very few scratches," Magno said.

The deadly crash occurred in Dix Hills, just east of the exit for Wolf Hill Rd. State police are investigating where Bowens got onto the highway.

Menzies was the second NYPD officer killed in a traffic accident on Long Island in as many weeks.

Officer Fred Barraza, 33, died early Thursday when he lost control of his car and slammed into a tree in Westbury, police said. His passenger, Jose Valdevenito, 35, was ejected from the car and suffered serious injuries.

Bloomberg railed against the dangers of drunken driving, and also referred to the City Island, Bronx, crash on  Saturday night that seriously injured Emily Sexton, 17.

Emily was standing on a sidewalk about a block from her home when cops say a liquored-up Florida man pulled a U-turn in a pickup truck and jumped the curb, slamming into her and pinning her against a building.

"This is just another tragic reminder of the deadly danger of drunk driving," Bloomberg said.

"So make no mistake about it: We are determined to stop drunk driving now - before the holiday season gets into full swing," Bloomberg added. "We don't want any more of this kind of carnage."