Family of Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against the Businesses That Served Underage Drunk Driver

MINEOLA, N.Y., July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Francisco Malaga, the husband of Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa and the Administrator of her Estate, yesterday filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Supreme Court, Nassau County, against every commercial establishment that unlawfully sold or served alcohol to Matthew Smith, the underage drunk driver who killed Officer Espinosa on January 31, 2026, as she drove to work, along with the social host who allowed him to drink at her home and Smith himself.

The complaint names Aqua Vitae Wines and Liquors of Hauppauge, which sold Smith a bottle of Bacardi rum; Blazin Wings, Inc., operator of the Buffalo Wild Wings in Miller Place; 573 Hauppauge, Inc., operator of FELT in Hauppauge; JCL Pub, Inc., operator of the James Joyce in Patchogue; Lindo Mexico Restaurant, Corporation of Patchogue; and Stephanie M. Alt, who hosted the event in Miller Place where Smith drank the night before the crash. Smith was 20 years old. Under New York law, not one of them was permitted to sell or serve him a single drink.

Last month, Smith pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, and related charges. In his sworn allocution, he admitted purchasing alcohol at multiple Suffolk County businesses without once being asked for proof of age. He will be sentenced on July 20 to 7⅓ to 22 years in state prison.

"The criminal case answered the question of what Matthew Smith did. This lawsuit answers the question of who put him in a position to do it," said Howard S. Hershenhorn of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, attorney for the family. "A 20-year-old was handed alcohol, over and over, at a liquor store, at a chain restaurant, at bars, and at a private house, and not one adult in that chain did what the law plainly required. Officer Espinosa's daughter will grow up without her mother because these businesses treated New York's drinking laws as optional. They are not optional, and this case will prove it."

The lawsuit also names the individual owners of the James Joyce, Lorcan Phelan, John Murphy, and Colm Ashe, along with a second bar they operate, LCJ Pub Inc., doing business as The Irish Times Pub in Holbrook. The complaint alleges that the owners ran the two bars as a single enterprise, commingled funds and personnel, and operated the James Joyce without any dram shop liability insurance, using the corporate form as a shield against exactly the kind of catastrophic harm their unlawful alcohol service caused. The complaint seeks to hold the owners personally liable.

The suit asserts claims under New York's Dram Shop Act and social host liability law and seeks compensatory and punitive damages for Officer Espinosa's conscious pain and suffering and her wrongful death.

Officer Espinosa, 42, was a nine-year veteran of the Nassau County Police Department's Fifth Precinct. She is survived by her husband, Nassau County Police Officer Francisco Malaga, their young daughter, her parents and brothers and sister.

Contact: Howard S. Hershenhorn, 212-943-1090, [email protected]

SOURCE Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf