More tests for Long Beach cop hit by car

A Long Beach police officer struck by a car as he wrote a traffic ticket Saturday afternoon will remain hospitalized Monday for more testing, a city official said.

Chris Orza was at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola. He was listed in good condition Sunday, according to a hospital spokesman. It was not immediately clear if his condition had changed Monday. Calls to a hospital spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

Officials originally believed he'd be released within 24 hours, but the officer's father said Sunday that a MRI and CT scan were ordered as precautions. City Manager Charles Theofan told Newsday that additional spinal scans were being ordered Monday and it was not clear when Orza would be released.

Carl Orza, the officer's father, said neither he nor his wife would comment on the situation at this time.

"I hope you understand," he said, adding he and his wife planned to visit their son in the hospital Monday afternoon.

The collision was reported 3:18 p.m. Saturday on Long Beach Bridge. Chris Orza, a motorcycle officer, was stopped along the northbound roadside.

Theofan said Sunday that the officer was standing outside the ticketed vehicle, by the driver's window, when the moving car struck both him and the stopped vehicle. He said that Freddy Flamberg, 33, of Long Beach, was traveling at an "excessive rate of speed," and lost control when he attempted to slow down and brake.

Police charged Flamberg with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and ticketed him for reckless driving and violating the state's new "move-over law," which requires drivers to slow down and change lanes, if possible, when approaching stopped emergency vehicles.

Flamberg was arraigned Sunday and released on $1,000 bail, said Theofan. He could not be reached for comment.

Theofan said Flamberg was due in court again Monday.

Chris Orza, a married father of three boys, suffered injuries to his neck, back and hip. Officials credited his motorcycle helmet with saving his life.

"He's in a lot of pain," his father told Newsday Sunday, adding: "The first tests didn't show broken bones, but they're going a little deeper."

Orza was on the minds of Nassau police officers, months after one of theirs, Michael Califano, was killed by a trucker who struck his patrol car along the Long Island Expressway.

Highway Patrol Officer Robert Delsignore said Sunday he "got a knot in his stomach" after hearing about Orza.

"I've had the cars literally come so close it's pulled the door out of my hand," he said. "It's dangerous out there."

With Paul Larocco and Tania Lopez