Police officer's recalls responding to heartbreaking fatal crash where wife was victim
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ ABC7NY
A devastated husband who responded to a fatal car crash whilst on duty, made the horrifying discovery that his wife was the victim dying in the wreckage.
Francisco Malaga spoke out in court just yesterday (July 20) to face his wife's killer, 21-year-old drink driver, Matthew Smith, whose choice to drink and drive cost a mom her life.
The Nassau County cop stood and faced Smith during his sentencing at a Suffolk County court, where he recalled the harrowing moment on January 31.
He revealed that his 42-year-old wife, fellow police Officer Patricia Espinoza, was hit and left for dead when he pulled up to scope out the crash.
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“I came upon the crash moments after it happened and I stopped, because that’s what police officers do,” Malaga, who shared a daughter with his wife, told Judge Timothy Mazzei. “I thought I was responding to help someone I had never met. Instead, I found my wife, Patricia."
He explained that Patricia, lovingly referred to as Patty by her family, slipped away right before his eyes.
“Nothing in my years as a police officer prepared me for that moment,” he said. “I watched the love of my life slip away — and that image will stay with me the rest of my life.”
It was revealed in court that Smith had been begged by friends not to drive after a night of binge drinking at the James Joyce bar in Patchogue, leaving him over twice the legal limit.
Shortly after getting into his black pick up truck, Smith ran through a red light at approximately 70mph in a 30 zone, where he slammed into Patricia's car, crushing it.
After the crash, Patty was rushed to Stony Brook Hospital, but nothing could be done to save her.
Smith, who was underage at the time, was apprehended and according to The Post, Bacardi rum and a shot glass were found in his truck.
He was charged with aggravated vehicular manslaughter and more, carrying a seven-and-a-half years to 22-year sentence.
"There's no reason to endanger other people on the road through selfish and dangerous decisions," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tieney said of his actions.
Patricia's sister, Cathalina Ramirez, also revealed the family's impact, and particularly that of the couple's daughter, who she said won't know her mom.
But she said her life lives on in memories, sharing: “She made people laugh. She made people feel safe. She made everyone around her feel loved. She dedicated her life to protecting complete strangers as a Nassau County police officer. But to us, she was simply Patty.”
Patricia's brother, Philadelphia Police Officer David Almeida, said nothing could have prepared him what happened to their family that day.
“As a police officer, I have responded to shootings, stabbings, fatal crushes, and countless tragedies, caused by impaired drivers just like you,” he told Smith in court. ““I have a stood beside grieving families — I believed I understood their pain. No, I didn’t. Not until it happened to my family.