By Mary Malloy
Deputy Inspector Diane LauKaitis, officers Steve Watanabe and Don LauKaitis, along with six members of the East Rockaway Fire Department, were recognized for their actions leading up to the apprehension of what turned out to be a DWI suspect.
"If not for the fact that all of these volunteers were there to help," said Mayor Ed Sieban, "there could have been a major disaster. These individuals went above and beyond to keep all of us safe."
According to witnesses who were heading home after the village's Memorial Day parade, John DeCurtis of Island Park was driving erratically on Atlantic Avenue, headed north, where the parade ceremonies were winding up. Diane LauKaitis said she got word from one of her officers at about 11:35 a.m. that a white box truck had driven through the barricades at Scranton and Grant avenues.
LauKaitis walked south on Atlantic, toward the oncoming truck. "My department was just starting to open up the route to traffic, and I caught up with the truck," she recounted. "I asked him why he went through the barricade." But DeCurtis never stopped to answer her, and just as Don LauKaitis's, who was directing traffic near the corner of Scranton and Grant, got the truck's license plate number, DeCurtis took off at about 40 mph - still on Atlantic, headed toward Officer Watanabe, near where the parade crowd was dispersing.
Watanabe became a one-man barrier, waving his arms and shouting at the truck to keep DeCurtis from plowing into the crowd. "Watanabe literally threw himself in front of the truck," said Diane LauKaitis. "I was yelling for people to get to the side, and all of a sudden [DeCurtis] made a right turn onto James Street on two wheels." The dead-end street seemed to signal the end of the chase, especially when DeCurtis pulled his truck into an empty driveway at the end of the street. But as LauKaitis approached him, DeCurtis jumped a fence into the backyard of a house on Denton Avenue. Several firefighters who were walking back to cars they had parked on James Street gave chase.
Laukaitis ran back to her patrol car and headed to Denton Avenue. There she found two firefighters and a passerby, Patrick Devine, of Lynbrook, holding the suspect down.
"He was hiding in the bushes at first," said Devine. "He was moving away from me, and then away from the firemen, but eventually we were able to pin him down until the police got there."
LauKaitis handcuffed DeCurtis and, accompanied by a Nassau County Police officer who had arrived on the scene, walked him to a waiting ambulance, where he was treated for scrapes he sustained during the pursuit.
DeCurtis was charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident.
LauKaitis credited Watanabe with putting his life on the line that day. "He's the one who deserves most of the credit," she said. "He literally saved the lives of hundreds that day."
Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
