Facebook page tracks officer's recovery after crash

A critically injured Nassau County officer's road to recovery is being chronicled on the police department's Facebook page, officials said Friday.

Officer Kenneth Baribault, the patrolman who was nearly killed when a drunken driver struck his cruiser on May 18, 2008, as Baribault was questioning another drunken-driving suspect on the side of the Long Island Expressway, is slowly healing, Second Deputy Commissioner William Flanagan said Friday.

On the Facebook page, to which 4,100 people have registered, the public can view a photo album illustrating Baribault's path to recovery from a broken pelvis and brain injury, the department said.

The page also shows videos of his rehabilitation process - including "movement in his formerly motionless right side and his early steps to relearn to walk," the department said.

"While his recovery is far from complete, the milestones reached thus far are inspirational," the department said in a statement.

Baribault, 32, of Nesconset, is convalescing at his parents' home in Suffolk County and spending a lot of time with his young son, Flanagan said.

Calling the crash "a very evil act," a Nassau County judge last year sentenced the drunken driver who plowed into Baribault, Rahiem Griffin of Shirley, to 7 years in prison.

Griffin is in the medium security Gowanda Correctional Facility in upstate Erie County, according to the state prison records.

Flanagan said Baribault had made significant progress with the help of family, but the crash showed the dangers of drunken driving. He added: "We hope he can return to work, full duty, one day."