March 15--Moments after his car came to a stop on the Long Island Expressway, relatives said William Schettino called his mother to say he'd had an accident. And, he said: "I'm scared."
Right after that, Schettino, 18, of Blue Point, was dead -- killed when a Suffolk County sheriff's office patrol car struck him as he stood in the HOV lane near Exit 59 in Islandia late Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Angry relatives of Schettino alleged Thursday that the deputy involved had been irresponsible and that the sheriff's investigators had not been forthcoming with information.
Sheriff's Chief of Staff Michael Sharkey said the deputy involved had been blinded by sun glare and had tried to swerve around Schettino's 2011 Mazda, which was stopped in the travel lane.
He said the deputy, Richard Tedesco, 37, a sheriff's deputy since 2007 and assigned to highway enforcement in 2008, clipped Schettino's car as he swerved around it and then struck the teen.
Photographs from the scene show the damage to the right side of the patrol car's windshield, but show no other significant damage to the front of the vehicle.
"I totally understand where the family is coming from," Sharkey told Newsday on Thursday. "If it was my child, I would be beside myself . . . They've been involved in a tragic incident and they want as much information as they can get."
According to procedure, the Suffolk County district attorney's office and the State Police also will be involved in the investigation. Officials said witnesses were still being interviewed and that a complete picture of the circumstances had yet to emerge -- including whether another driver had struck Schettino's car.
Luigi Schettino, the victim's father, told Newsday on Thursday that his son was headed to night classes at Suffolk County Community College's Brentwood campus when the fatal accident happened at 5:49 p.m.
"It's puzzling how the Lord takes such a great kid," he said.
An uncle, Richard Zagger, and his wife, Nancy Zagger, both told Newsday that their nephew called home shortly before he was struck and killed to tell his mother, Jo Ann, he had been involved in an accident.
Photographs from the scene show the car in the travel lane.
But, Zagger told Newsday, his nephew called and said, "I'm scared" and then told his mother he didn't feel safe where the car was stopped on the expressway. He said he had activated his emergency flashers.
Family members said they believed Schettino had been involved in a hit-and-run accident and told him to call 911.
It was not clear Thursday if Schettino had called 911.
Authorities said that remained under investigation.
A man who said he was Schettino's grandfather said in a phone interview Wednesday that his grandson's car had been "sideswiped and driven into the HOV lane," adding: "He couldn't get out of the driver's side, so he got out of the passenger's side, after he put his lights on, after he contacted the police department."
Family members said that Jo Ann Schettino told her son to remain in the car, and Nancy Zagger said her nephew was in the road because he was already talking to police on the scene, though officials said there was no indication at this point that that was the case.
Sharkey said the deputy, driving in the HOV on routine patrol, came up on the stopped vehicle and though his vision was compromised by sun glare, realized the car was not moving and attempted to swerve around it to the left -- into what photographs show is a marked shoulder between the lane and median.
"There was sun glare and our deputy attempted to avoid the vehicle, and the operator was in the road," Sharkey said.
Authorities said CPR was performed on Schettino, a 2011 graduate of Bayport-Blue Point High School, and said he was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The deputy also was taken to a hospital, but his injuries are not believed to be serious.
All westbound lanes were closed immediately at Exit 59 and remained closed past 11 p.m. to aid the investigation. It was not clear how long it would take to complete the investigation -- or when information from the accident reconstruction might be released.
A State Police spokesman cautioned such a reconstruction could take months.
Two lanes of the westbound LIE between Exits 59 and 60 were closed for police activity Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Transportation website reported.
Law enforcement officials told Newsday that drivers should always try to move their vehicle out of an active travel lane, if possible -- even if it's been involved in an accident.
As Sharkey said Wednesday: "I would like to stress to people that if something happens to their car, and they're not able to move it out of the roadway, the safest thing to do is stay in the car with your seat belt on and call 911 . . . Obviously, if you can get it out of the roadway, you should."
With Ellen Yan and Bill Mason
Copyright 2012 - Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
