NYPD Silent As 15-Yr. Veteran Police Sgt. Charged
With Mowing Down Pedestrian While Driving Drunk
Barry Gintel, VP of the Fire Bell Club of NY, Was Rushed To NY Presbyterian Hospital
NY Daily News 7/8/09
An NYPD Sergeant has been quietly
charged with driving drunk and mowing down an upper East Side
man who had just picked up his morning coffee, the Daily News
has learned.
Sgt. Joseph Spiekerman, 43, was arrested following the June29
crash in which he hit Barry Gintel, 68, after running a red
light at York Ave. and E. 86th St., court records reveal.
Gintel - vice president of the Fire Bell Club of New York, a
group of Fire Department buffs - was rushed to New
York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.
He underwent emergency surgery for two fractured legs, broken
ribs, a ruptured spleen, and head and neck injuries.
Contacted in his hospital room, Gintel, who was wearing a neck
brace, declined to comment.
"He doesn't remember too much. His biggest concern is getting
out of that bed, and he wants to walk," said Joseph Higgins,
president of the Fire Bell Club.
Police officials declined to explain why they failed to release
details of the crash and Spiekerman's arrest sooner.
The crash occurred at 6:40a.m. near The Mansion diner, right
after Gintel had bought a large coffee and two buttered rolls.
"I give him his change, look out the window, and I see he got
hit and goes flying 10, maybe 20 feet in the air," said Leticia
Guerrero, 24, a cashier.
Guerrero said the impact shattered the windshield of
Spiekerman's silver Volvo. The cop got out and tried to help
Gintel, who lives about a block away.
Spiekerman was charged with felony vehicular assault and driving
while intoxicated.
He was arrested after officers responding to the accident
noticed his bloodshot eyes and smelled booze on his breath,
according to records. A 15-year NYPD veteran, Spiekerman
admitted drinking, records say.
A lawyer for his police union said an investigation into the
crash still "needs to be completed."
Spiekerman, a union delegate for the Sergeants Benevolent
Association, refused to take a breath test, forcing cops to get
a court order to draw his blood.
The sergeant, assigned to the PSA 7 housing precinct in the
Bronx, has been suspended without pay, officials said.
With Melissa Grace and Alison
Gendar
simonew@nydailynews.com
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