Nassau legislature honors police officer injured in crash

The Nassau County Legislature on Monday honored Nassau County Police Officer Willard Gomes, who was seriously injured Jan. 1 when an alleged drunken driver struck his unmarked patrol car.

Gomes, who was working on DWI enforcement at the time of the crash, endured life-threatening injuries, including bleeding on his brain, a fractured C5 vertebrae, the loss of multiple teeth and a broken left arm and left orbital bone.

Gomes, flanked by top police brass, wore a suit and walked with a cane as he thanked his department colleagues.

“They have been by my side every day since this happened and their love and support is overwhelming, and there’s no words for me to say how I appreciate everyone in the department,” Gomes said.

The legislature issued a proclamation citing him as the month’s “Top Cop.”

“It’s a great day. You’ve got Will Gomes behind us, and he’s walking. And he’s talking, and he’s talking about coming back to work,” said Nassau Police Benevolent Association President James McDermott.

McDermott said Gomes was in intensive care for more than a month and is undergoing physical therapy.

Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder recalled visiting Gomes on the night he was taken to the hospital. “Nobody signs up for what he went through that night, and nobody signed up for what he’s going to go through in the next several months of his recovery,” Ryder said.

Prosecutors charged Kevin Dillon, 29, a boat mechanic and U.S. Coast Guard veteran from New Hyde Park, with vehicular assault, assault, driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the crash.

According to court papers and prosecutors, Dillon was driving a 2014 Dodge Truck on Glen Cove Road in Greenvale about 2:30 a.m. when it crossed the road’s double line and “mounted the center median.” The truck hit Gomes’ car head-on. The patrol car was dragged backward about 50 feet and hit a Mercedes-Benz SUV. No one in that car was injured.

Prosecutors have said Dillon registered a .17 percent blood-alcohol level during a partial reading on a preliminary breath test — more than twice the state’s .08 legal limit. Dillon told officers that he had earlier consumed wine, whiskey and beer, as well as Xanax and medical marijuana, prosecutors have said.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.