Two months after fatal crash, victim’s family demands answers

Thursday marks two long, grief-filled months since a tragic accident took the life of longtime Flanders resident Barbara Tocci, 47, on Flanders Road.

And now, Tocci’s family is demanding answers and questioning why the Southampton Town Police Department has yet to release an accident report.

The victim’s father, Phil Tocci, of Flanders, is outraged over the “runaround” he said he’s been getting from officials.

Tocci said he has called Southampton Town Police six or eight times, with no response.

“Nobody ever calls me back. There’s still no report and no reason why,” he said.

Southampton Town Police Sergeant Susan Ralph confirmed Monday that no final accident report has been approved and released.

“The investigation is ongoing,” she said. Ralph said if Tocci has questions, he should call her directly and she would be happy to speak with him.

Barbara Tocci, who lived in Hampton Bays, was on her way to her job at a Riverhead title insurance agency just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, January 16. A southbound PSEG utility truck crossed into the northbound lane of traffic and hit her 2000 Ford Explorer head-on near the intersection of Spinney and Flanders roads, police said in a press release issued later that day.  See story.

According to Southampton Town police, the driver of the 2005 GMC utility truck, PSEG employee Michael Pepe, 53, of Bayport, was transported by Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. He was treated and released, police said.

Police have not issued any Pepe any summonses so far, Ralph said.

“We can issue summonses at any time,” the police sergeant added. “Just because a summons was not issued at the scene, it does not mean we cannot issue one at a later date,” she said.

Asked if Pepe was administered a blood test to determine if he was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash, Ralph said, “If we don’t determine any reason to test him for intoxication, he would not be tested. At the time, officers did not see any indication of intoxication,” she said.

The New York State Police Forensic ID and Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to assist, Southampton police said. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s vehicular crimes bureau also responded and the New York State Department of Transportation responded to repair damage to Flanders Road that day, a police press release said.

Immediately after the accident, Tocci’s family and other Flanders residents cried out about the condition of Flanders Road, which residents said was cratered with deep potholes and the subject of numerous complaints to the state and town highway departments and to state legislators. (See Jan. 24 story, “‘Why does it take a death to get a response?’: town official”)

“People complained to the state DOT dozens and dozens of times, but it all seems to fall on deaf ears with the state,” Flanders-Riverside-Northampton Citizens Advisory Committee chairman Richard Naso said in an interview a week after the crash. “It’s just complaceny,” he said.

“Why does it take a death to get a response?” Naso asked.

The frustration by the lack of information forthcoming about the accident, the victim’s father said, has made an already painful time even worse.

“You can imagine what it’s like, to wait and wait and wait, with no response,” Phil Tocci said.

After detectives told him no witnesses had come forward, Tocci said he suggested, that perhaps a sign could be put up, asking for the public’s help. The idea generated no response, Tocci said.

Adding insult to injury, Tocci said, was the recorded message he received from the N.Y. State Department of Transportation’s fatal accident division.

“They gave their condolences for my loss — and it was a recording. I was so angry,” Phil Tocci said. Don’t call me with a recording. You don’t know me. You don’t know Barbara.”

Remembering that dark morning when he lost his daughter, Tocci said he had received a call from Kent, her long-time partner, who said Barbara had never shown up for work that day, and that there had been an accident on Flanders Road.

“I heard on the scanner that they needed heavy equipment,” Tocci recalled.

Tocci reached out to the Flanders-Northampton Volunteer Ambulance, an organization his family has long been a part of. No one could give him answers, he said. But in his heart, he knew.

It would take almost half the day before official notification came, Tocci said. In the meantime, he and his children saw photos of the accident on another news website and recognized the vehicle as his Barbara’s.

“Barbara was a saint,” Tocci said. So beloved was his daughter in the community, he said, that almost 500 people came to her wake, waiting outside for over two hours in the bitter cold for the chance to say good-bye.

“She was a perfect person,” her father said. “You don’t find people like her. She never missed a birthday, always sent everyone a card. On Valentine’s Day, she always sent me a card. This Valentine’s Day, I took last year’s card and hung it up, because she can’t send me one anymore,” he said, his voice choking.

Road repair efforts by the state undertaken after the accident that took his daughter’s life bring Tocci little comfort and even make him angrier. “Now, you see trucks out fixing potholes. It’s too late. You’ve got to wait for a fatality?”

Eileen Peters, spokesperson for the New York State Department of Transportation, said crews have been out almost daily repairing potholes. “We are trying to maintain a safe roadway, as we do for all of our roadways across Long Island,” she said. In January and February, she said, $1.9 million has been spent on pothole repairs across Long Island.

A private contractor was even brought in, Peters said, to supplement the DOT’s maintenance forces. “We do our absolute best to maintain safe roadways.”

Peters said the state DOT was also waiting for the police accident report. “We are waiting for the police report and, depending on their finding, we will take appropriate actions,” she said.

New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele said both he and Senator Ken LaValle contacted the DOT last summer about poor conditions on Flanders Road, asking when it would be repaved.

“At the time, they told us they had no current plans. After the accident, we renewed our call for the road to be repaved,” Thiele said, adding that while he has not gotten a formal letter in writing from the DOT, both he and LaValle have been assured by the DOT that when the weather breaks, repaving will commence.

“I’m very optimistic about that,” he said. Second, Thiele said another initiative planned for New York State Route 24 involves traffic calming measures near the traffic circle.

Thiele added that in his travels, he has seen roads across New York State in poor condition after the rough winter and, with the budget process ongoing, the hope is to address not just state, but local roads, with increased highway aid.

Thiele said he had spoken with Tocci’s family after the accident. “It’s unfortunate that sometimes, tragedy finally spurs the state beauracracy to action, but we do have the DOT’s attention on this.”