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[LongIslandWthr]

A veteran Suffolk County police officer responding to a call was killed early this morning after a drunk driver broadsided his service car, sending it spinning into a pole where it burst into flames, Suffolk police said today.



The officer, whose name was not released, was driving north on Commack Road at Motor Parkway in Commack at about 4:15 a.m. when police said a vehicle driven by a man in his 20s apparently tried to make a left turn while going south on Commack Road and broadsided the officer's car.

The police car spun around, struck a traffic pole, and immediately burst into flames. Bystanders said the car ignited so quickly and fully that no rescue attempts were possible, according to Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone.

The driver of the other car stayed at the scene, Varrone said. The man, who is a resident of Nassau County and whose name was not released, was arrested and taken to the Suffolk Police Department's Fourth Precinct, where he was charged with DWI. He was not injured in the collision.
The officer had served on the force for more than 20 years and worked in Suffolk County's Second Precinct, which is based in Huntington. At the time of the crash, he was on his way to aid a fellow officer.

Varrone called the fallen officer a "dedicated, hardworking police officer."

"We are devastated over the tragic loss of this fine young officer who lost his life in the line of duty," said Varrone.

Mourners today laid red and yellow flowers at the site of the crash, which is near the Bonwit Inn. One man who brought a bouquet identified himself as an emergency medical technician with the FDNY.