Surgery postponed for officer hit by car

Surgery for a veteran Nassau County policeman, critically injured after being struck by a car in Lawrence, has been postponed until Thursday, a Nassau University Medical Center spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon.

"He remains in critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit," spokeswoman Shelley Lotenberg said.

The surgery to repair a pelvic fracture was expected early Wednesday, but Lotenberg said it was postponed to give the officer more time to stabilize.

Police did not name the Fourth Precinct officer, who is 57, but said he also suffered internal bleeding, which doctors stemmed in surgery Tuesday, and skull and leg fractures.

He was outside his car on the northbound side of Route 878, the Nassau Expressway, when he was hit by an Audi driven by a 43-year-old man who had his two children, ages 20 and 9, in the car, police said. The crash happened just north of the Atlantic Beach Bridge, police said. The officer was cracking down on speeders at the time, police said.

Investigators Wednesday were still looking into the chain of events that led to the crash. Police said Wednesday there was no update on the investigation.