Funeral set for Nassau cop killed on LIE
Nassau County Highway Patrol Officer Michael J. Califano, 44, was struck and killed in a crash during a traffic stop Feb. 4, 2011, on the Long Island Expressway. Credit: Newsday / Patrick E. McCarthy
Funeral arrangements have been set for the Nassau police officer who was killed early Saturday after police said a trucker asleep at the wheel slammed into his patrol car.
A wake for Michael J. Califano, 44, of Wantagh, will be held at the Massapequa Funeral Home's South Chapel on Tuesday and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The funeral will be held at noon on Thursday at Maria Regina Roman Catholic Church in Seaford. Califano is set to be buried at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.
Califano had been sitting in his patrol car behind a box truck he had pulled over at Exit 39 of the westbound Long Island Expressway when authorities said a flatbed truck driven by John Kaley, 25, of New Britain, Conn., rammed into the back of Califano's vehicle.
The impact crushed Califano inside his car, and he was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. Saturday. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Kaley, who police said had dozed off while driving to Connecticut, sustained minor injuries and was jailed without bail. Kaley was charged with criminally negligent homicide, three counts of misdemeanor assault, and a violation of the new state law that requires vehicles to slow down and move away if possible from emergency vehicles that are stopped by the side of the road with their lights on.
