Long Island Cop-Turned-Chauffeur Drives Couple To Wedding Ceremony After Car Crash
Updated at 9:35 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2018
SHIRLEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Weddings can be stressful enough, but what happens when you get into a car crash on the way to your own ceremony?
Luckily for one couple on Long Island, a cop with a heart of gold wasn't going to let anything get in the way of their special day.
Suffolk County Police said Joseph DeMichele, 36, was driving his 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee on Montauk Highway on Saturday afternoon when a driver made a U-turn in front of him. The vehicles collided, and the crash rendered DeMichele's Jeep disabled.
Nobody was hurt, but DeMichele was travelling with his fiancee, 36-year-old Felice Terwilliger, and their two kids, 10-year-old Jayden Corriche and 5-year-old Gianna DeMichele, on the way to the town hall in the Village of Lake Grove for the couple's wedding ceremony.
Up stepped Officer Cody Matthews, who responded to the crash and drove the couple to the wedding in his patrol vehicle.
"So I volunteered and I also have my own wedding coming up in six months and I know how stressful a wedding can be," Matthews told CBS2's Dave Carlin on Sunday.
The family's mood went from frantic to exhilarated as the police SUV wasted no time getting to the wedding.
"We jumped in the car, the siren's on and we flew to the place," Felice said.
"I rushed them over to the wedding as fast as I could," Matthews said.
Officer Matthews was even invited to be an official witness.
"It turned out they need a witness to sign the marriage certificate. I was still there and I signed the marriage certificate for them and then I drove them back home," he said, adding about his longer-than-usual shift, "A little bit of overtime, but well worth it."
It wasn't immediately clear if Officer Matthews would accompany the couple on their honeymoon.
