YAPHANK, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — A police officer in Suffolk County remains in a medically-induced coma after being severely injured by a drunken driver while on duty this week.
Authorities said Officer Timothy Thrane was standing outside his patrol car in Yaphank early Wednesday morning working on an unrelated crash when his cruiser was hit by a vehicle being operated by 38-year-old William Petersohn of Mastic.
The cruiser then spun and hit Thrane.
"A lot of the parts of our job seem routine, but there's an element of danger to everything we do and this particular officer was on what we refer to as a routine traffic post but it was on a high speed roadway, William Floyd Parkway, in the middle of the night and our officers are out at all times of day and night in all types of weather and when they're out at night there's a higher prevalence of impaired and drunken driving," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron.
Thrane, a 35-year-old married father of three, suffered a life-threatening brain injury. He remains hospitalized in a medically-induced and on a ventilator.
"We were fortunate that he was not more seriously injured, but he definitely had life-threatening injuries. He underwent brain surgery at Stony Brook Hospital in the early morning hours this past Wednesday," Cameron said. "During this period of time there's a lot of complications that can arise so they're monitoring for that and they expect to keep him in a medically-induced coma for some period of time."
A fund has been established to help Thrane and his family.
So far, more than $110,000 has been raised.
Petersohn is accused of having a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.
Petersohn has pleaded not guilty to charges.