Feb 23, 2009 7:00 pm US/Eastern
LI Police Officer Killed In Crash With DWI Suspect
COMMACK, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Officer Glen Ciano, a 22-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department, was on his way to help a colleague with a traffic stop when a car plowed into his vehicle at about 4:15 a.m. on Feb. 22 in Commack, killing him.
CBS
A veteran police officer responding to a call died Sunday after a drunken driver slammed into his patrol car so hard that the crash was heard a mile away and engulfed the officer's car in flames, Suffolk County police said.
The driver was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge -- his second in two months, police said.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer called the crash "a sad reminder of the dangers police officers face each and every day."
Officer Glen Ciano, 45, a 22-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department, was on his way to help a colleague with a traffic stop when Jose Borbon's car plowed into his vehicle at about 4:15 a.m. in Commack, police said.
The impact spun the officer's car around and hurled it into a traffic pole, sparking a fire that erupted so fast there was no chance of rescuing Ciano, Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone told reporters.
"The police vehicle burst into flames and, within seconds, there was an additional explosion," Varrone said.
Witnesses say it happened so quickly that they didn't have time to help.
"We saw the big flames, then we saw the explosion," one witness said. "It was a really big explosion – the windows shook and everything. It was really a surreal event."
Borbon, 23, was unhurt.
Borbon had been arrested on a DWI charge Jan. 4 in neighboring Nassau County, police there said; that case is pending. His arraignment in the Suffolk case was set for Monday.
Suffolk and Nassau police were uncertain whether he had a lawyer. A message left with his family was not immediately returned.
No one answered the door at Borbon's Plainview home, but CBS 2 spoke to some of his neighbors.
"We know the family, they've lived here five years – very nice," neighbor Helen Tarantino said. "There's never been any problem."
Borbon is scheduled to appear in court Monday.
Ciano is the 22nd Suffolk County officer to be killed in the line of duty since 1960. In 2004, officer Edwin Hernandez was killed in a car crash.
"This officer made the ultimate sacrifice protecting and serving the people of Suffolk County," County Executive Steve Levy said.
Officers stood in formation and saluted as the slain officer's body was brought to the county medical examiner's office, and flags were lowered to half-staff outside the police department he had served for more than 20 years, police said.
"We all suffered a great loss," Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association President Jeff Frayler told Newsday, describing the Ciano as "a great police officer, a great family man, a great husband and father."
No one else was injured in the crash.
CBS 2's Christine Sloan contributed to this report.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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