The New Jersey man whose sport-utility vehicle smashed into two police cars on Staten Island on Valentine’s Day, killing one cop, was indicted yesterday for criminally negligent homicide.
A spokesman for the Staten Island District Attorney’s office said the charge was based on “two factors: his excessive speed and the fact that he failed to adhere to the traffic situation [the cones and the flares] that was set up.”
A grand jury heard from 10 witnesses before indicting Ciardi Franklin, 27, of Perth Amboy yesterday. The six-count indictment also charges Franklin with criminally negligent assault, a misdemeanor, and several traffic violations.
“He’s devastated and very distraught over the indictment,” said Michael Raskin, Franklin’s attorney. “He still contends that this was a tragic accident, but an accident nonetheless.”
Franklin was initially charged with drunk driving, although that charge was later dropped when tests showed he had no alcohol in his bloodstream.
Franklin claimed he fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into the cop car at 5:30 a.m. on the West Shore Expressway.
Officer Matthew Dziergowski drove his patrol car into the path of Franklin’s vehicle to save his partner and two other cops stationed at the scene of an earlier truck accident.
Raskin said Franklin sent flowers to the Dziergowski’s family and has expressed a desire, through the DA’s office, to meet with the cop’s family, but has not gotten a response.
“He’s a family man himself,” Raskin said. “He has expressed his feelings of condolences from day one. But does he feel he deserves this? No. He’s completely devastated.”
Dziergowski’s brother-in-law, Detective Dan Ford, said last night that “nothing will bring Matthew back.
“We feel his loss every minute of every day, and nothing can change that or make that loss any easier.
“We’re not looking at this as any type of victory,” the detective said. “We’re not a family that looks for revenge.”
Asked about Franklin wanting to meet with Dziergowski’s family, Ford said “he’s never approached us.”