Attorneys wrapped up their closing arguments Thursday in the trial of an accused drunken driver who critically injured a Nassau police officer.

The final statements focused on whether the accused driver, 28-year-old Rahiem Griffin, acted recklessly when he hit Officer Kenneth Baribault?s patrol car on the side of the LIE last May.

The assistant district attorney asked jury members to close their eyes and picture what happened the day of the crash. Griffin, who admitted on the stand that he was drunk, blames the crash on a faulty tire and falling asleep at the wheel. His attorney says he should be found guilty of the DWI and driving with a suspended license, but not the most serious charge of reckless assault. He urged the jury to consider the lesser charge of vehicular assault.

?What I am saying is if they find that he was drinking and driving and someone was seriously injured, which I don?t think is in controversy, that that is an option that is available to them as the jury as opposed to the top count of reckless assault,? says defense attorney Gerard Brogdom.

Griffin faces seven years in prison if found guilty of reckless assault and four years for the vehicular assault charge. On Friday, the judge will explain the difference between the two charges to the jury before the case goes into deliberations.