FELONY BROUGHT IN FLORIDA IINCIDENT

A Florida man whose car struck and severely injured a city police officer on Interstate 95 in May was charged with a felony Thursday under the state's Move Over Law.

Joseph Serafini, 75, of Estero, Fla., had initially been charged with failure to reduce speed and exceeding a safe speed after his 2006 Toyota hit Lumberton patrolman William Reed on May 15.

Reed, who was investigating a motorcycle accident in the median of Interstate 95 when he was struck, suffered two broken legs and a collapsed lung. He has been hospitalized since the accident, but was expected to go home today.

“I just found about the new charge this morning,” Reed said Thursday while speaking by telephone from Southeastern Regional Rehabilitation Center in Fayetteville. “I'm happy. The felony charge is appropriate.”

The Move Over law took effect in January 2002. It requires motorists to move one lane away from any emergency vehicle that is on the side of the highway. Drivers also are supposed to slow down and approach cautiously when an emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder of the roadway with its lights flashing.

The law was amended in July 2006 to add a fine of up to $500 and a felony charge if an accident occurs that results in serious injury or death.

A state Highway Patrol report said Serafini told authorities that he hit Reed after swerving to avoid another vehicle that had slowed because of the motorcycle accident.

Reed was collecting accident debris when he was struck near Exit 10, about a mile outside of Lumberton.

“I was walking along and I got this feeling,” Reed said. “I turned around and saw this car swerve off the road. I couldn't get out of the way ... it was moving too fast.”

Reed was thrown approximately 20 feet, a witness said.

“I was conscious the whole time,” Reed said. “The pain? I don't know how to describe it ... I never felt anything quite like it. They wouldn't let me look at my legs. I thought my career is over.”and his wife Kay, who was also in theReed, who developed pneumonia and was placed on a respirator during his hospitalization, said he is glad to be going home. He is not sure if or when he will be able to return to his job in law enforcement. He expects to spend the next six to eight months in rehabilitation.

“It has been difficult. I've had to learn to do everything over again,” the 29-year-old Fayetteville resident said. “The bright spot has been all the help that my family and I have received. That has really made me feel good.”

Councilman Erich Hackney has helped with fund-raising efforts to pay some of Reed's medical bills.

“It is important that this guy got the elevated charge,” said Hackney, who works as an auxiliary police officer for the Lumberton Police Department. “That is the purpose of the Move Over law. Maybe the public will see that we are serious they will move over too or face charges.”