By KEITH GRANT and CHRIS MUNZING
Fourth Precinct Officer William Ditmars, Point Lookout resident Kenneth Mancino and Lido resident Patrick Ladmer were responsible for the Tuesday-morning rescue, with Ditmars in particular, witnesses and colleagues said, putting his life on the line to free a trapped driver seconds before a truck exploded in flames.
The drama began at about 11:30 a.m., when a minivan driven eastbound on Lido Boulevard by Bronx native Domingo Cruz, 27, suddenly veered from the center lane to the right lane, directly in front of a truck driven by Derek McLean, 42, of New Jersey. The two vehicles collided hard and slid off the road at Bay Lane, with McLean's truck falling onto its side on top of the van.
Ladmer, 32, was in the backyard of his nearby Channel Road home when he heard the loud crash. He ran up to the front of his house, saw the van underneath the overturned truck and immediately called 911 before running out into the street to try to help.
According to Ladmer, a woman and a baby had already gotten out of the van by the time he got there, but Cruz was still trapped inside. "His hand was smooshed between the steering wheel and the dashboard," Ladmer said. He adjusted the steering wheel's tilt so he could free the driver's hand and remove him from the wreck.
Mancino, 51, a town parks employee who was driving by and saw the crash, stopped and helped Ladmer attempt to free Cruz. In the meantime, Officer Ditmars had arrived and was struggling to pull McLean from the truck. After freeing Cruz, Ladmer noticed a fire in the minivan. According to Ladmer, the fire was spreading dangerously close to the gas tank of the truck. Ladmer repeatedly screamed at Ditmars to get away from the area.
"I was yelling at him, I was screaming at him," Ladmer recounted. "He was inside with the guy. He was not leaving without the guy."
According to Sgt. Walter Anderson of the Fourth Precinct, as the fire quickly spread, Ditmars entered the truck's smoke-filled cab and attempted to free McLean, even as the truck's tires exploded in the fire just feet away. "He said his kids' faces flashed before his eyes," Anderson said. "But he just thought, 'I gotta give it one more shot for this guy.'"
As witnesses watched the fire spread, Ditmars literally pulled McLean out of his shoes. In a scene like something out of Hollywood, he and McLean cleared the truck just before it exploded in flames.
Ladmer said that Ditmars untied the truck driver's shoe, so he could free his leg and pull him from the wreck, mere moments before the explosion destroyed both vehicles. "Less than a minute later, goodbye," said Ladmer, who praised Ditmars for his heroism. "He's a good cop. He really deserves a commendation." Ladmer said that without Ditmars' help, McLean never would have made it out of his truck before the explosion.
According to Anderson, Ditmars has patrolled Lido Boulevard for several years. "He's a really solid guy, an ex-Marine," Anderson said.
Ditmars' dedication was apparent even after the explosion. "After he did this, he was trying to gather all of the information so he could do the accident report, because this is his post," said Anderson, who happily relieved Ditmars and sent him to get medical aid. "That's the mentality he has. You don't leave your post."
According to police, McLean, Cruz and 3-year-old Miashi Garcia were treated and released from the hospital for their injuries. Milagros Osorio, 52, who was in the van with Cruz and Garcia, was flown by helicopter to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where she was treated for a broken leg, police said. Mancino suffered smoke inhalation and was held overnight at Long Beach Medical Center, where he received a visit from his boss, Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Wednesday morning, during which she commended him for his efforts.
A police Hazmat team responded to the scene to contain Freon that escaped from McLean's truck, which was transporting ice cream. The Point Lookout-Lido Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Traffic into Lido was shut down from Long Beach and the Loop Parkway, temporarily causing some backups at the Long Beach Bridge. The boulevard was reopened an hour later as the charred ruins of a near-disaster rested off to the side.
In addition to the bravery displayed by the three men, Anderson said, "There were a lot of things that went in everybody's favor. Just the accident itself could've been fatal." Anderson said that had the crash occurred a mere 25 feet earlier, a nearby home could have been in the direct path of the flames.
