Cop Injured in Long Island Hit-Run Released From Hospital

The Long Island police officer who was critically injured after being hit by a stolen SUV during a traffic stop has been released from the hospital after four weeks of rehabilitation.

Suffolk County police officer Nicholas Guerrero received applause from fellow officers as he was wheeled out of Stony Brook University Medical Center Friday morning, less than a month after the Sept. 22 hit-and-run in Huntington that put him in a medically induced coma.

He smiled and waved to friends and family as he was loaded into the ambulance to be taken to a rehabilitation center where he was set to continue his recovery.

At a new conference Friday, officials with the hospital, county and police department all lauded emergency and hospital workers for their response to what could have been a deadly injury for the four-year SCPD veteran. 

"Statistically speaking, he only had a one in three chance of surviving," said Dr. Jame Vosswinkel, the chief of Stony Brook's trauma and emergency surgery unit.

Vosswinkel also praised Guerrero's will to recover and the support he received from his family and fellow police officers.

"Throughout this process, if it wasn't for Nick's character, his strength and his will...I don't think (his recovery and release) could have happened," he said. 

Guerrero was stopping the Ford Explorer on Partridge lane when he and his partner were hit.

The driver sped off afterward and hit another vehicle at a gas station nearby. The driver and a passenger both abandoned the vehicle and carjacked a Toyota Camry.

Two suspects, 34-year-old Chad Morizsan and 22-year-old Nicholas Franzone, were both arrested later that day for their roles in the crash and subsequent incidents.

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