BAYVILLE
Drinking a factor in Joel crash?
BY ROBERT KAHN AND ERIK HOLM
Staff Writer
April 26, 2004, 8:55 PM EDT
A dangerous pattern of accidents, or just bad car-ma?
Billy Joel's most recent crash -- his third one-vehicle mishap since 2002 -- fueled speculation Monday whether the latest incident may be connected to drinking by the rehabbed rocker.
It also raised the issue of whether police should have taken his history into account when they decided not to perform a field sobriety test Sunday.
Criminal justice experts and drunk driving activists said yesterday that police would have needed evidence that Joel had been drinking before they could conduct a sobriety test.
If there had been a death or serious injury, a test would have been required, said Eugene O'Donnell, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. Otherwise, police look for slurred speech, disheveled clothing, bloodshot or watery eyes, the smell of alcohol, open containers, or unsteadiness.
Nassau police and witnesses said yesterday that Joel, 54, exhibited none of those indicators after he lost control of his maroon 1967 Citroen, drove through some shrubbery and banged into the wall of a Bayville Avenue home less than a mile from the Centre Island mansion he's settling into with fiance Kate Lee.
"At this scene, there was no sign of alcohol use," said Nassau Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, "and no odor of an alcoholic beverage." Police attributed the crash to slick road conditions.
Homeowner Maria Dono, 94, was away grocery shopping and Joel suffered a small cut to his left ring finger.
Joel was unavailable for comment yesterday, but spokeswoman Claire Mercuri said, "Billy's main concern is the damage to Mrs. Dono's property, and he's taken immediate steps to make sure it's repaired as quickly as possible."
John Pacifico, who lives across the street from the home Joel hit, said there have been at least three mishaps there in the last three years.
Joel entered Silver Hill, a rehab facility in Connecticut, a week after plowing into a fire well and post in Sag Harbor in June 2002. Six months later, he drove his car into a tree, and ex-wife Christie Brinkley released an unusual public statement saying she feared for the safety of their daughter, Alexa Ray, because of Joel's "pattern" of car accidents.
It would probably not be illegal for police to consider that information, if they had it, in their decision making at the scene of Sunday's accident, O'Donnell said.
"There's no real textbook answer on that," he said. "I mean, how often do you come across Billy Joel after he hit a house with an antique car?"
Police who responded to Joel's earlier crashes did not perform sobriety tests either.
"Police shouldn't give the test every time there's a crash," said Denna Cohen, president of the Long Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "Sometimes, you could just be a bad driver."
Neighbors in Bayville rallied to Joel's defense.
Joel's barber, Michael Binyaminov of Michael's Barbershop in Bayville, said locals are familiar with the road and understand how a crash could happen under those conditions.
"Some people say it was alcohol, but I think the road was slippery," said Binyaminov.`
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
I bet Mr. Joel wishes he just called for delivery.
Long Island, home of the Amityville Horor, Joey Buttafuco and Amy Fisher, Jessica Hahn...
