Bond lowered for officer held in fatal DWI

A judge Tuesday lowered the bond bail for the Hempstead Town officer accused in last week's fatal crash that killed a jaywalker -- a bond the officer's family still isn't sure they'll be able to afford.

Officer Robert Core's new bond is $100,000, half the $200,000 a different judge set Friday at Core's first court appearance. The bond was reduced by Tuesday's judge, Valerie Alexander. Core's defense attorney has said the family could afford a $50,000 bond.

Core is charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. He's been jailed at the county lockup since Friday.

The Core family will try to cobble enough collateral -- such as homes, cars, jewelry, bank accounts -- for the bail bondswoman, said defense attorney Lloyd Nadel of Mineola."I don't know what the magic formula is," he said.

Core, a public safety officer who was responding to a call Thursday night of youths trespassing after-hours in a town pool, is accused of drinking before his shift and crashing into the pedestrian, who was crossing Hempstead Turnpike near Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

A preliminary intoxication test showed Core had a blood-alcohol content of .17 percent, more than twice the legal driving limit. Core, 42, of 100 Terrace Ave., later told a police officer processing his voluntary blood sample that he drank a 40-ounce Colt 45 malt liquor with his dinner, about five or six hours before the 11:20 p.m. crash, court records show. The blood test results are incomplete.

Court records say the victim, Eddie A. Cotto, 50, of Lindenhurst, was an "elopee," meaning he'd left the hospital against medical advice after he sought treatment at NUMC for what his fiancee later said was stress.

In court Tuesday, Nadel gave a preview of a possible defense to the most serious charges against his client -- vehicular manslaughter, a felony: Nadel said Cotto's actions in crossing the street -- surveillance video shows Cotto was jaywalking and didn't look out for traffic -- could affect Core's culpability.

"The issue is whether the alcohol -- whatever that turns out to be -- affected his ability to react," Nadel said.

A Hempstead spokesman says the town intends to fire Core. Nadel has called that move premature.