Decorated Nassau cop pleads guilty to driving drunk

A decorated Nassau police veteran accepted a plea bargain Thursday for driving under the influence. With his guilty plea, Vincent Muscarnera, 57, admitted to driving drunk when he smashed his patrol

News 12 Staff

Sep 6, 2007, 11:12 PM

Updated 6,219 days ago

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A decorated Nassau police veteran accepted a plea bargain Thursday for driving under the influence.
With his guilty plea, Vincent Muscarnera, 57, admitted to driving drunk when he smashed his patrol car into a telephone pole in July 2006. Muscarnera was on his way home from a retirement party for a fellow officer when he crashed on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury.
Police on the scene did not test for alcohol, but the district attorney's office obtained a warrant for a blood test while Muscarnera was in the hospital. Muscarnera's blood alcohol level was .21, nearly three times the legal limit, according to the district attorney's office. However, a judge later ruled that test was inadmissible as evidence because it violated doctor-patient privilege.
Muscarnera is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 27. His plea deal calls for a 90-day suspension of his driver's license, $1,500 in fines, three years probation and the performance of 50 hours of community service.