Hundreds of Long Island pizzerias have joined forces to raise nearly $200,000 for the family of a tragic Nassau County cop killed by an alleged drunken driver.
“This fundraiser has been one of the simplest to participate in,” said Alyssa Guidice, a founder of the LI Pizza Strong coalition, to The Post.
“Yet the impact has been nothing short of incredible.”
County police Officer and mom Patricia Espinosa, 42, was killed when intoxicated motorist Matthew Smith, 20, blew through a red light near the Smith Haven Mall in Suffolk County and crashed his Chevy Silverado into her 2019 Alfa Romero on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Espinosa’s husband, fellow NCPD Officer Francisco Malaga, was one of the first to respond to the scene, unaware at the time that his wife was involved in the crash.
The victim had just left the family’s Smithtown home and was on her way to work when she was killed.
Her family now can’t collect any of her police pension because she was technically being off the clock at the time, according to Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
“Thirty-five minutes later, she’s at work and would get a line-of-duty pension” if the crash had happened later, Ryder said.
LI Pizza Strong, which has previously banded together tons of slice shops after local devastating events such as the murder of Massapequa Park’s NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, donated $5 for each pie sold Feb. 25 to Espinosa’s family.
The charitable movement — also spearheaded by Anthony Laurino, the viral owner of Phil’s Pizza in Syosset and “Rescue Me” executive producer-turned-bread maker Jim Serpico — saw its largest-ever restaurant and customer participation to date with the effort for Espinosa.
A whopping 311 stores sold 33,233 pies to caring community members that Wednesday.
“It was nonstop all day,” said Laurino, estimating he had about four times the volume of a normal weekday.
“Everybody said they were there to support the cause. People even came in the days after trying to give.”
Malaga was presented with a check for $188,000 at Nassau PBA headquarters Friday morning — money that will be put toward a college fund for their 2-year-old daughter, Mia.
A separate GoFundMe raised close to $314,000 at the time of Espinosa’s death.
“The money that’s been raised from across the spectrum and all different fundraisers has been phenomenal. It shows the goodness of society,” Ryder said.
Espinosa moved to the US from Ecuador at 21, learned to speak English and loved being involved in the department’s philanthropic efforts such as its prom-dress drives — when not tackling knife-wielding suspects in the Fifth Precinct around Elmont.
“She was … an up-and-coming star on this job,” Ryder said.
“The way she treated people and her communities made her loved by all of the men and women that worked with her.”
Smith was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and aggravated vehicular assault and is awaiting trial.
