MADD to honor LI traffic officers

The wife of a Suffolk police officer killed by a drunken driver will speak at a luncheon Thursday honoring officers who combat driving under the influence, an advocacy group said.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Long Island will honor more than 50 Nassau and Suffolk police officers during its annual luncheon.

Speakers will include Susan Ciano, the wife of Glen Ciano, a Suffolk police officer who was killed by a drunken driver in February 2009.

"I am going to thank the law enforcement officers that have worked hard to enforce the laws," Ciano told Newsday.

Officer Garret Mannerz from Nassau's Third Precinct, who made 123 DWI arrests in 2010, will be among the honorees, said Kristyn Hovanec, MADD Long Island's senior development officer. He has been a member of the Nassau County Police Department since November 2005.

Officer Timothy Murphy of the Riverhead Police Department also will be honored. Murphy led the department with 86 of 148 total DWI arrests in 2010, Hovanec said.

The event is at noon at Chateau La Mer, 845 S. Wellwood Ave. in Lindenhurst.

"This annual event is our way of saying thanks to those who dedicate their lives to this important work," MADD Long Island chairwoman Margaret Rebholz said in a news release.

Susan Ciano is expected to discuss what she and her family went through after Glen Ciano died when his police cruiser burst into flames after hitting a utility pole in a crash in Commack with a car driven by Jose Borbon, of Plainview. Borbon admitted to being intoxicated and talking on a cell phone at the time of the crash.

Borbon, who had been charged with DWI in the month before Ciano was killed, was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and aggravated driving while intoxicated.