Injured Long Island Police Officer To Lead Christmas Parade

MASTIC, NY — A Long Island law enforcement family experienced what many would call a Christmas miracle last year when a loved one was released from the hospital just in time for Christmas. This year, they'll celebrate that heartwarming moment with a special honor from the community he served.

Suffolk Police Officer Timothy Thrane, who was seriously injured by an alleged drunken driver in a car crash in November 2021, has been chosen as the grand marshal of the Mastic-Shirley Christmas parade, according to a Facebook post by the Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics and Shirley. Thrane had been assigned to the 7th Precinct in Shirley when he was struck while responding to the Yaphank crash scene.

The parade is one of the largest Christmas parades on Long Island, stretching from the South Port Shopping Center down to Mastic Road, drawing several thousand people. The parade includes local fire departments, ambulance companies, and civic and school groups who follow the same theme. This year the theme is "A Gingerbread Christmas."

The parade steps off on Dec. 4.

In their post, chamber officials said "thank God he will be able to finally return to work soon after a very difficult road to recovery," adding, "Looking forward to a wonderful parade."

Thrane, a 35-year-old member of the force for three years, had been directing traffic after an earlier crash at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Yaphank Woods Boulevard at about midnight on Nov. 3, when police say a drunk driver struck the rear of a parked GMC Yukon causing the vehicle to strike him.

He ended up being put on life support and spent one month at Stony Brook University Hospital where he was placed in a medically-induced coma after life-saving surgery for a brain bleed, as well as multiple broken bones.

But Thrane was discharged on Dec. 9 from St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, where he received physical therapy and rehabilitation treatment as part of his recovery from life-threatening injuries he suffered on the job in a chain reaction crash on Nov. 3.

He was greeted at St. Charles by well-wishers from all over as he began his journey home.

At the time of his release, his wife, Janelle, said that to have him home for Christmas is “the best outcome” that the family could have expected “…that he was not even awake a week and a half ago, and now he is coming home, it really is a miracle,” according to a hospital news release.

The couple has three young children, who are ages 3, 5, and 11 years old.

Thrane said he felt amazing when asked how it felt to be discharged in time for Christmas.

“I couldn’t wait for this day. It’s all I ever wanted,” he stated.

Police department officials also called Thrane's discharge "a miraculous turn of events."

"We wish Officer Thrane the best in his continued recovery," read a post on the department's official Facebook page.

The driver in the crash that injured Thrane, William Petersohn, 30, of Mastic, pleaded guilty back in April to second-degree vehicular assault and assault, both felonies, and first-degree operating a motor vehicle with .08 percent of 1 percent alcohol, a misdemeanor, according to online court documents.

He was sentenced in June to six months jail time and five years of probation, records show.