Fire chief ticketed responding to accident

The chief of the North Merrick fire department was ticketed Wednesday by New York State Police when he and a trooper could not agree on how to handle traffic flow at an accident scene on the Meadowbrook State Parkway in North Merrick.

Fire Chief James Allen was issued a citation for failing to comply with a lawful order after helping an accident victim on the Meadowbrook near the Southern State Parkway.

Allen, chief for four years and a 23-year member of the department, said Saturday he responded to an accident call between 9 and 9:30 a.m. on the southbound parkway.

When Allen got to the scene, he said, a trooper had parked a patrol car in the center lane, where a driver had spun out.

The front of the driver's car was stopped in the southbound lane, facing north, Allen said.

Allen said he pulled up in the right lane, next to the driver's door, to help stabilize the driver, who appeared to be in serious condition and in need of medical assistance.

"I got out of my vehicle, and he said I had to move my vehicle," Allen said. The trooper told him to move the sport utility vehicle three times, and each time Allen said he refused, reasoning to do so would make the accident scene unsafe for rescue personnel, Allen said.

Allen said he felt that both the center lane and right lane should have been closed to traffic; the trooper wanted traffic to flow in both the left and right lanes.

Allen said, after the third time the trooper said to move it or be arrested, "I said, 'Well then arrest me, because I'm not going to move it.' "

He said he then gave the trooper his driver's license and registration before going to help stabilize the injured driver.

Allen said that with icy snow creating slick, slippery roads, traffic coming from both outside lanes would have been hazardous to rescue personnel.

State police spokesman Frank Bandiero acknowledged the incident and said "the trooper wanted to keep two lanes of traffic flowing and the chief disagreed."

Bandiero said police are conducting an "internal inquiry" of the incident, but that, as of now, the ticket stands. "He'll have his day in court," Bandiero said.

After Allen helped stabilize the victim, who was transported to a hospital, the trooper asked Allen to pull onto the shoulder and issued him the ticket, Allen said.

Allen is due March 7 in First District Court in Hempstead, he said, and the fire department has assigned an attorney to represent him.

Allen said neither he nor any member of the fire department has ever had a problem with state police when responding to accidents or incidents on the parkways. "Since my ticket, we've had three more accidents and everything was OK [with troopers at the scene]," he said. "This seems to be an isolated incident."