Insufficient Evidence To Charge Police Officer For Deadly LI Crash: AG

SEAFORD, NY — Insufficient evidence has been found to charge a Nassau County police officer with a crime in connection to a 2022 crash that killed a driver, Attorney General Letitia James announced.

A report conducted by James' Office of Special Investigation (OSI) concluded that "a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that Officer Pollio committed a crime, and closes this matter with the issuance of this report."

On the morning of Dec. 9, 2022, Officer Mario Pollio was in an unmarked police car on Hicksville Road in Seaford. He was responding a medical emergency regarding an elementary school teacher.

Morris Sprachman was in his car in the opposite direction on Hicksville Road, waiting to make a left turn into a shopping center, the report said.

Pollio, who had his police lights on, went through the intersection with a green light as Sprachman made the left turn, colliding with the officer's vehicle.

Sprachman was hospitalized and died five days later.

Officer Pollio was traveling above the posted speed limit of 40 mph when the crash took place, but, the report indicates, he was driving in the correct lane with no evidence of being impaired or distracted.

The report also stated that Pollio had a reasonable basis for speeding in responding to a cardiac emergency at a school and that he would have had no reason to anticipate Sprachman would turn into the intersection.

"Under these circumstances, based on the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer committed a crime, and as a result, OSI determined that criminal charges could not be pursued in this matter," the report concluded.

However, James recommends all county police cars should be fitted with dashboard cameras.

"Had Officer Pollio’s car been equipped with a dashboard camera there would have been a clearer picture of the collision," the report said.

The 14-page investigative report features photos from the crash, legal analysis and interviews with witnesses.