The Highway Patrol Bureau and the Old Westbury Police Department report the details of a three-vehicle accident that occurred on March 1. Nine people were injured in the accident, which occurred on the Long Island Expressway westbound at exit 39 (Glen Cove Road) between a truck, bus and automobile.

Police report that Jose Ortiz, the driver of a tractor-trailer owned by Intruck Leasing Corporation of Englewood Cliffs, NJ, lost control of his vehicle and was in a collision with a 2001 Audi TT two-door coup, operated by Syosset resident Bryan Pacelli. The Audi was then in a collision with a Classic Coach charter bus.

According to police, the Audi became jammed under the trailer and dragged before both slammed into the retaining wall dividing the western and eastern lanes and were hit by the charter bus, which was carrying parents from the Rocky Point School District to an event at New York University in Manhattan. A second bus, carrying some 49 Rocky Point fifth graders, was not involved in the crash.

While the exact cause of the accident was still being investigated, police report that Jose Ortiz of Winston-Salem, NC, was issued multiple traffic violations for equipment violations, bald tires, a missing tax sticker, and improper registration for weight as well as operating an overweight vehicle. The trailer portion of the tractor-trailer, owned by EMH Consulting Company of Brooklyn, had a gross maximum weight of 80,000 pounds while the actual weight came in at 96,000 pounds - 16,000 pounds over the gross maximum weight.

Pacelli, who was on his way to work at the Great Neck Audi dealership, was transported by helicopter to Nassau University Medical Center where he was admitted with internal, non-life threatening injuries. The other eight persons injured - parents on the charter bus - were transported to area hospitals where they were treated and release.

Both the truck and the bus were impounded for safety checks. As a result of the accident, the Long Island Expressway was closed westbound for over three hours and 45 minutes.

Pacelli left the hospital on Tuesday afternoon.