Patchogue 19-Year-Old Reunites With Suffolk Officers After Fiery Crash Rescue

Nineteen-year-old Kervens Lesperance of Patchogue walked into Suffolk County Police headquarters in Yaphank to thank the five officers who pulled him from his overturned, burning 2015 Jeep Cherokee after a Nov. 24 crash on Nicolls Road that left him unconscious and hospitalized. At the Wednesday reunion Lesperance watched police bodycam footage of the rescue for the first time and shook hands with the officers who saved him.

The crash occurred about 11:20 p.m. when Lesperance’s 2015 Jeep Cherokee sideswiped a 2019 Toyota Highlander while traveling southbound on Nicolls Road, sending the Jeep into the Division Street overpass in Holtsville, where it overturned, the top was sheared off and the engine ignited. Two witnesses initially tried to help before Suffolk County officers arrived on the scene.

Highway Patrol Officer Craig Capobianco was the first officer on scene and helped free Lesperance from the wreckage alongside Officers Robert Stroehlein, Joseph Nofi, Robert Rosciano and Michael Renna. Capobianco said, “I grabbed Kervens myself being that the impact of the crashed caved the steering column downward on his lap.” Capobianco described slipping and falling between the embankment and the burning vehicle while pulling Lesperance out: “When I pulled him out of the vehicle, I had slipped and I had fallen in between the embankment and that vehicle that was obviously engulfed, at which point in time Kervens was on top of me.” Officer Renna rushed to extinguish the fire as the rescue unfolded.

Body-worn camera footage shown at the reunion captures Lesperance unconscious in the overturned, burning vehicle and his body inadvertently pinning one of the officers into a nearby embankment, officials said. Lesperance was freed at the scene and taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he spent about a week receiving treatment.

Medical accounts agree Lesperance suffered a fractured skull and significant neck ligament trauma, though descriptions vary between a bruised ligament and a torn ligament in news reports. Lesperance told reporters, “The only thing I remembered is waking up in my home and saying that I had a bad accident.” At the reunion he added, “I just want to say I'm glad that I'm here and I just want to say thank you for saving me.”

County Executive Ed Romaine joined the recognition at police headquarters, saying, “They saved this man’s life.” Newsday photographer James Carbone captured Lesperance shaking hands with Sixth Precinct Officer Joseph Nofi while highway patrol Officer Robert Rosciano looked on. Friends from Suffolk County Community College, who had been with Lesperance earlier that night in Lake Grove, attended the reunion as Lesperance confirmed plans to continue his studies in automotive and pursue a career in that field.

Officers credited Lesperance’s seat belt with saving his life, calling the rescue a second chance for the 19-year-old. Police and county officials presented certificates recognizing the five rescuers at the Yaphank ceremony.