N.Y.P.D. Highway Officer Killed by Drunken Driver, Police Say

Anastasio Tsakos was directing traffic on the Long Island Expressway overnight when he was struck by a woman who the police said was intoxicated and driving with a suspended license.

A New York City police officer died after being hit by an intoxicated driver early Tuesday on the Long Island Expressway, officials said. Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said the victim, Anastasios Tsakos, 43, was hit around 2 a.m. after being assigned to divert traffic from the highway near the scene of the fatal accident. The driver, who Mr. Shea said was under the influence and driving with a suspended license, veered while traveling eastbound and struck the officer’s car head on. The motorist, a 32-year old woman from Hempstead, N.Y. who was driving a 2013 Volkswagen, could face charges of vehicular manslaughter, Mr. Shea said. The police did not identify the driver by name, but they said that her car was extensively damaged with a shattered windshield.