Attorney dies after stolen car crashes into his sedan
Joseph Carney, 62, of Levittown, was driving west on Maple Avenue at the intersection of Ellison Avenue on Tuesday, police said, when a stolen car going north on Ellison crashed into the driver's side of Carney's car. (May 4, 2010) Credit: Joseph C. Sperber
A Nassau County deputy attorney died Tuesday after the driver of a stolen car crashed into his sedan at a Westbury intersection, police said.
Joseph Carney, 62, of Levittown, known by colleagues as a skilled trial attorney, was driving west on Maple Avenue at the intersection of Ellison Avenue, Nassau Det. Sgt. Rich Laursen said. A stolen car going north on Ellison crashed into the driver's side of Carney's car and he died at the scene, Laursen said.
The driver of the stolen car, Robert Feder, 51, of Huntington Station, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and could face additional charges pending the investigation, Laursen said.
Feder was hospitalized at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, said a police spokesman, Sgt. Anthony Repalone. No arraignment date was set.
Police in an unmarked car spotted Feder driving unsafely before the accident, Laursen said.
Feder allegedly turned the 2010 Hyundai Elantra onto Ellison Avenue and ran two stop signs before hitting Carney. The unmarked police car had just turned on its lights and was a block and a half away from Feder when the accident happened at 11:55 a.m., Laursen said.
"There's no indication he was aware that the police car was following him," Laursen said.
In the crash, Carney's car hit a third vehicle stopped at Ellison Avenue. The driver of that vehicle was treated and released, Laursen said.
At the time of the crash, Carney was driving back from court where he had participated in conferences on several cases, County Attorney John Ciampoli said.
Carney joined Nassau County in October 1973, starting in the Family Court Bureau before moving to torts in 1978, where he had worked since.
Ciampoli called Carney "a very positive guy who was an all-around asset to this office." He said Carney was a mentor to many of the office's interns.
"The shock and grief I saw here in the office and the hallways, you know we aren't talking about a guy who can be replaced," Ciampoli said.
With Sophia Chang
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