A heartbroken Long Island cop described in court the devastating moment he responded to a crash – only to discover the victim was his wife.
Nassau County Police Officer Francisco Malaga was on patrol the morning of January 31 when he received a call about a crash in the Lake Grove section of neighboring Suffolk County.
But when he arrived on the scene Malaga found his wife, fellow Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa, 42, critically injured due to a drunk driver.
He described the painful memory to Judge Timothy Mazzei at the sentencing for Matthew Smith, 21, on Tuesday, the New York Post reports.
‘I thought I was responding to help someone I had never met. Instead, I found my wife, Patricia,’ Malaga said through tears.
‘Nothing in my years as a police officer prepared me for that moment,’ he continued.
‘I watched the love of my life slip away – and that image will stay with me the rest of my life.’
Smith had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he blew through a red light at around 70mph in a 30mph zone, slamming his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck into Espinosa’s Alfa Romeo.
He pleaded guilty last month to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Malaga said he met Espinosa on the job as Nassau County police officers
In court on Tuesday, Malaga lamented how he and his wife strived to give their young daughter, Mia, ‘the best life possible’
The now 21-year-old Smith has pleaded guilty last month to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated
First responders found Espinosa hanging upside down by her seat belt in her overturned vehicle at around 6am, according to Newsday.
Responding paramedics then took half an hour to free her from the wreckage and transported her to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was died.
Malaga said he met Espinosa on the job and they shared a common goal of giving their two-year-old daughter, Mia, ‘the best life possible.’
‘That dream was stolen from us on January 31,’ the grieving father said. ‘Our family has received a life sentence,’ he continued, per News 12.
‘No sentence this court imposes can bring Patricia back. Nothing can restore what was taken from our family, but accountability matters.
‘Not out of revenge, because Patricia wasn’t a vengeful person, but because her life mattered.’
As part of his plea, Smith admitted he had been drinking heavily the night before the fatal crash. He was 20 years old at the time.
Malaga spoke through tears at Smith’s sentencing on Tuesday
Nassau County Police Officer Francisco Malaga had been on patrol the morning of January 31 when he responded to a call about a fatal crash in Lake Grove, where he found the victim was his wife, fellow police officer Patricia Espinosa, 42
His binge began on January 30, when Smith purchased a bottle of Bacardi rum at Aqua Vitae Wines and Liquors in Hauppauge.
Smith then went onto purchase additional drinks at a local Buffalo Wild Wings; and the pubs James Joyce and Lindo Mexico in Patchogue, he admitted under oath.
At James Joyce, Smith claimed he was able to enter the bar through a backdoor without having to present an ID to a bouncer.
Over the course of the night, Smith said he consumed multiple cocktails that included whiskey and peach schnapps, among other ingredients.
In the early morning hours, Smith was ‘driving crazy,’ running several red lights as he made his way to a local casino, his passenger John Andali told police following the crash.
Just half an hour before the collision, Andali posted a video to his Instagram page showing Smith ‘driving erratically, speeding and weaving around traffic stopped at a red light,’ prosecutors have alleged.
Other videos showed Smith driving between 5.40am and 5.47am, weaving through traffic and speeding past other vehicles.
Smith claimed in his plea that he was able to enter James Joyce pub in Patchogue through a back entrance and did not have to show any identification
Espinosa had been on her way to work at Nassau County’s Fifth Precinct when Matthew Smith plowed into her Alfa Romeo
At one point that morning, the infotainment system in Smith’s vehicle recorded that he was driving at 175mph after leaving the casino.
In court on Tuesday, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Emma Henry argued that the then 20-year-old made conscious decisions that night – noting that he ignored his friends’ pleas not to get behind the wheel.
‘This crash had multiple victims because one person believed he could drink, drive and disregard every rule,’ she said, noting that Andali suffered spinal and pelvic fractures in the crash and Smith broke his leg.
The court then heard from Espinosa’s family, including her brother David Almeida, who serves as a police officer in Philadelphia.
‘As a police officer, I have responded to shootings, stabbings, fatal crashes and countless tragedies caused by impaired drivers just like you,’ Almeida told Smith in his victim impact statement.
‘I have stood beside grieving families – I believed I understood their pain. No, I didn’t. Not until it happened to my family.
‘Nothing prepares you for the phone call that changes your life forever, nothing prepares you to bury your best friend, nothing prepares you to watch a little girl grow up without her mother because someone chose to drink and get behind the wheel,’ he asserted, adding: ‘I would not wish this pain on anyone.’
Espinosa’s sister, Cathalina Ramirez, described how she ‘made people laugh’ and ‘made people safe’
Espinosa’s sister, Cathalina Ramirez, also lamented how Mia will never get to know her mother.
She described how her sister ‘made people laugh’ and ‘made people safe.’
‘She made everyone around her feel loved. She dedicated her life to protecting complete strangers as a Nassau County police officer. But to us, she was simply Patty.’
The heartbroken sister then turned her attention to Smith, saying: ‘Maybe one day God will forgive you, but I cannot. The pain you have caused is too deep.’
Smith kept his head down as he heard the pain he caused, according to the Post.
He then told Espinosa’s family members he will think about them for years to come.
‘I mean this with all my heart, I am truly sorry,’ he said, as his attorney, Anthony La Pinta argued for leniency.
The lawyer told the court that Smith did not make excuses for his actions and knows that the crash was ‘entirely preventable.’
‘He accepts full responsibility for the catastrophic results of his choices,’ La Pinta said.
But after hearing from both sides, Judge Mazzei said he struggled to understand Smith’s decisions.
‘What were you thinking? I just don’t get it,’ he asked, before handing down a sentence of between seven-and-a-half years to 22 years in New York state prison.
At the same time, Smith faces a civil suit from Espinosa’s family, which also names the businesses and homeowners who plied him with alcohol that night as co-defendants.
The suit claims they ‘violated multiple provisions of the law by selling alcohol… to someone who was a minor.’
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