Pa. police delays calling LI family in crash ID error

Pennsylvania State Police say they will not call the Esposito family about wrongfully identifying their son as dead until the case's lead investigator returns to work Monday.

According to Pennsylvania State Police Capt. James Murtin, who said he might make the call to the family, police are holding off on contacting the Espositos of Mastic Beach because investigators need to understand exactly what happened the night a trooper wrongly identified one of the bodies in an April 24 car crash as Alfred "Freddy" Esposito III.

Murtin said Monday he hopes to speak with the case's lead investigator who was at the scene the night of the crash to determine how the identification was made.

The confusion began when a Nissan Altima carrying three Stony Brook students hit a tractor-trailer on Interstate 80 in northeastern Pennsylvania. After reaching the scene, a Pennsylvania state trooper found a New York driver's license bearing the name and photo of Alfred "Freddy" Esposito III, 26, in the hands of one of the dead, according to troopers.

Based on that ID, two Suffolk police officers arrived at the Mastic Beach home of Freddy's parents, Alfred and Geri Esposito, with news that their son was dead.

Ninety minutes later the couple learned their son was alive, and in his Bay Shore home. The victim was later identified as Paul Richards, 18, of Santa Cruz, Calif. Sean Finnegan, 21, of Lynbrook, was also killed in the crash.

Some time after Monday's meeting, the Esposito family will be contacted by Pennsylvania State Police, Murtin said. He did not give an expected date or time for the call.

With Andrew Strickler