Estate of Theresa Vazquez, Medford woman allegedly struck by SUV in Farmingville Fire Department parking lot, sues agency, claims cover-up

Farmingville Fire Department officials altered surveillance video of a Medford woman who was allegedly hit by an SUV in the agency's parking lot last year to avoid responsibility for her injuries, a lawsuit filed by the estate of the now-deceased woman alleges.

The complaint, filed on Friday in Suffolk County Supreme Court, said alterations made to the video are part of a broader cover-up by Farmingville fire officials to shield the unidentified driver of the SUV, believed to be a high-ranking fire official, from accountability.

"The defendant, Farmingville Fire Department, Inc., by and through its employees, special employees, agents and/or licensees, tampered with, edited, altered, redacted and/or concealed the video," the lawsuit alleges.

Attorney Charles S. Gucciardo, of Mineola, who represents the estate of Theresa Vazquez, said in an interview that Farmingville Fire officials also falsely claimed Vazquez suffered injuries that required months of hospitalization when she tripped while trying to avoid the SUV.

People who wish to file lawsuits against government agencies in New York are required to file a notice of claim within 90 days of an incident, allowing officials time to investigate, but Farmingville fire officials did not provide security video of the April 9, 2025, incident until two months after the deadline.

"The fact that they are still playing a shell game with who was actually driving the car speaks volumes about the lack of integrity of these players," said Gucciardo, who represents Erica Christensen, Vazquez’s daughter and the administrator of her estate. "They’ve taken a negligent act and turned it into an intentional act."

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, names the Farmingville Fire Department, Chief Vincent J. Purpi and commissioners George Munoz, Robert Wallace, Edward Stewart III and John Caputo as defendants.

Suffolk police and individual officers, accused of parroting the fire department’s claims that Vazquez tripped in official reports and failing to properly investigate the incident, are also named as defendants. The Suffolk Department of Public Works, which the lawsuit said owned the SUV, is also a defendant.

Farmingville fire officials did not respond to a request for comment. Suffolk police and a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine declined to comment, saying they can’t discuss pending litigation.

Vazquez, a part-time supermarket employee, spent several months after the incident in a rehabilitation center. She died at the age of 75 of cancer six months after she was hurt.

Video of the incident, which Gucciaro submitted to the court and shared with Newsday, showed Vazquez parking her car in the rear lot of the fire department on the morning of April 9, 2025. Vazquez was walking toward the firehouse to play bingo when a blue SUV backed out of a spot reserved for chiefs and commissioners and headed into the path of the mother of three. Seconds later, Vazquez was lying on the ground with a broken arm and rib, shoulder and head injuries.

The video Gucciardo obtained from Farmingville fire officials is choppy and appears to freeze at various points, including a four-minute gap Gucciardo said was an attempt to hide the identity of the driver.

The driver did not identify himself after allegedly hitting Vazquez or exchange insurance information with her, the lawsuit alleges. It is against New York State law to leave the scene of an accident when someone is injured.

Vazquez contacted Suffolk police the day after the incident, according to a police report, to document it for insurance purposes. Officer Eric Kennedy wrote in his report that Vazquez told him she tripped and fell while dodging the SUV. Gucciardo said Kennedy’s report inaccurately repeated the fire department’s version of events.

Another police officer named as a defendant, Mateo Puentes, delayed an investigation into the incident by insisting Gucciardo file a report in the Fifth Precinct, where Vazquez was hospitalized at NYU Langone—Suffolk, even though the incident took place in the Sixth Precinct, the suit alleges.

An officer eventually contacted Gucciardo, telling him he had to speak to Vazquez to pursue the issue. But Vazquez was dying of cancer and the interview never took place.

Gucciardo said he contacted Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s Office. The district attorney's office did not respond to his inquiry, the lawyer said, adding he was later contacted by an investigator from the police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau.