LI’s culinary community is rallying for slain Nassau cop — as beloved married mom is laid to rest

READ FULL ARTICLE

A beloved Nassau County police officer killed by a suspected drunk driver over the weekend was laid to rest — as Long Island’s culinary community rallied to help the tough-but-loving married mom’s family.

“She just made a homicide arrest a little over a month ago, when she kicked the door down and tackled the guy who stabbed somebody,” Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said of fallen cop Patricia Espinosa.

“But then she’d go out, and she’d be rescuing two kittens and trying to get somebody to adopt them.”

Espinosa, 42 — who was killed by accused drunken motorist Matthew Smith, 20, while driving to work Saturday — was remembered as a mother of a 2-year-old daughter and someone passionate about helping the area’s Hispanic residents, including organizing a prom dress drive.

“She came here, she couldn’t speak English, so she learned the language, took the test, became a cop, and then she went to the fifth precinct,” Ryder said of Espinosa, who moved to the US from Ecuador at age 21.

“That’s where she met her now husband, and they had the child together.”

“Everybody feels like they want to do something… Her young girl is going to grow up without a mother,” Ryder added.

To help Espinosa’s grieving family, restaurateurs banded together through a “LI Pizza Strong” initiative, uniting more than 200 local pizzerias to raise money in a pension-like fund.

The initiative calls on slice shops across America to contribute $5 per pie sold on Feb. 25.

Meanwhile, supporters have already raised more than $260,000 on GoFundMe to honor her legacy and help pay for funeral costs.

Espinosa immigrated to the US from Ecuador and is survived by her husband and daughter.

She died after Smith crashed his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck into her Alfa Romeo on Route 347 near the Smith Haven Mall in St. James around 6 a.m. Saturday.

In a tragic twist, her husband, fellow NCPD officer Francisco Malaga, was among the cops who rushed to help at the crash — without knowing his wife was the victim.

“He stops to help, and he finds out it’s his wife,” Ryder said, adding Malaga had been off-duty. “The story is horrible, something movies are made of.”

Espinosa leaves behind her husband Malaga, her daughter Mia, and two brothers on the force: Cristian, a fellow Nassau cop, and David, an officer in Philadelphia.

At her wake, the police chaplain described her daughter as “a miracle baby.” Ryder later explained that Espinosa had struggled, like many young couples, with the stress of work life while trying to have a child.

“She’s a loving mother at home, a person that’s giving back to her community — the sensitive side — but then she’s ready to rock and roll when the police department calls her to serve,” Ryder said.

Her family will likely need financial support because she was not yet pension-eligible and there is no line-of-duty death settlement.

“So who’s going to step up and do the right thing? The community,” Ryder said.

Anthony Laurino, owner of Phil’s Pizzeria in Syosset and one of the co-founders of LI Pizza Strong, said the cause “hits home.”

“Everybody’s friends with a cop; the world needs law enforcement. Let’s face it, they’re keeping us safe and risking their own lives for ours. So it’s dear to all of us,” Laurino said.

Laurino, who gained viral attention online for his humorous videos about customer behavior, is using his platform to recruit pizzerias nationwide to support the fundraiser.

“I made a lot of friends over the last year. A lot of pizzerias follow me. So I wanted to extend the invitation to them as well — hoping to make this something really big,” he said.

Pizza parlors across the tri-state quickly signed on, with more expected from as far as Las Vegas and Florida.

The fundraiser will also focus on preventing drunk driving, and a list of participating locations will be shared online.

Previously, LI Pizza Strong organized fundraisers for several local tragedies, including a fatal bus crash involving Farmingdale High School band members, the murder of NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, and a deadly car crash in West Babylon.

Those efforts raised nearly $400,000 combined.

“People are always looking forward to doing this and supporting,” said co-founder Alyssa Guidice, who runs the popular Dine LI Facebook page.

The third founder, Jim Serpico, echoed the sentiment: “Our area has proved itself. We’re kind of used to everyone coming together at this point.”

Laurino added that the fundraiser brings out the best in people.

“Nobody’s complaining that they’re waiting for their pizza,” he said. “It’s just such a great day.”