A Huntington Station cabbie who was shot by an off-duty Nassau County police officer in a road-rage incident has won a $2 million settlement from Nassau County, Newsday reported.
Thomas Moroughan was shot twice in the 2011 confrontation by then-Officer Anthony DiLeonardo in a dispute off Oakwood Road in Huntington Station. DiLeonardo was accompanied in a night of drinking by fellow off-duty officer Edward Bienz when they got into the dispute, with one officer firing five bullets into the cab, hitting the cabbie twice. He was initially charged with reckless endangerment 2nd degree and assault 2nd degree. The charges were later dropped.
Newsday reported Monday that Nassau County legislative committees approved the $2 million payment.
Newsday reported recently that the Suffolk County Police Department shielded DiLeonardo by wrongfully arresting Moroughan, and found that leaders in the Suffolk department blocked an attempt to hold two sergeants accountable in Moroughan’s arrest.
A settlement with Suffolk County is pending, Newsday said.
DiLeonardo was fired three years later; Bienz remains with the Nassau department and has been promoted.
In a statement, Newsday quoted Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman as saying: “I believe this is a reasonable settlement in light of all the factors surrounding the 2011 incident. The officer, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, was terminated, and institutional controls have been put in place” since the shooting.