By:Chris Munzing
Novak and his wife, Colleen, were returning from a night out when Novak stopped at his business, Novak Auto Corporation, to retrieve some paperwork. Novak said he paused at a stop sign at the bottom of Daly Boulevard, at Hampton Road, when a car crashed into him from behind.
"The guy must've been coming down the hill behind me," Novak said in a phone interview from his hospital bed. "He didn't even slow down - he just slammed into us at full speed."
The impact crumpled Novak's car and sent it careening across Hampton Road and into a fueling station. Novak suffered a broken pelvis and numerous cuts and bruises. His wife suffered a broken collarbone, a broken ankle, and cuts and bruises.
Novak said he was grateful, however, that a chance phone call prevented another injury. His 20-year-old daughter was set to join him and his wife for dinner when a friend called and invited her out. "Had she been in the car, she would've been in the back seat," Novak said. "When we got hit, the back seat was pushed up into the front. That's what broke my pelvis, the impact from the back seat into the front."
Novak, who has been with the Auxiliary Police for more than 30 years, was in good spirits after the accident. "Whatever it takes, I'm going to get back on my feet," he said. He has undergone several operations thus far, and has what he called "eight pounds of hardware, nuts, bolts and titanium rods" in his pelvis.
The Auxiliary Police comprises volunteers who provide security and complement the regular police throughout the city. Auxiliary members patrol Long Beach senior citizen housing buildings, city parks, City Council meetings and Zoning Board meetings held at City Hall, city schools, the Recreation Center and the concerts on the boardwalk during the summer.
"He sounds unbelievable," said Long Beach Police Commissioner Tom Sofield Sr. of Novak. "I just couldn't believe it when I talked to him. He sounded like nothing had happened. He'll get through it."
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