Haunting Message Sent at L-P

A funeral hurst parked outside L-P set the stage last night for “Operation PROM-ise”.

The event featured a video depicting L-P students getting into a mock car crash and speakers with relatives killed by drunk drivers.  L-P Senior Mike Bergagna played the role of a drunk driver on his way to prom.  In the video, his prom date was killed in the crash.  The video went on to show Bergagna arrested and sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crash.

The first victim impact speaker of the night was Nancy Burress.  Her 20-year old daughter Amanda Kapinski was killed in a drunk-driving crash in Putnam County in 1999.  When referencing the coroner telling her that her daughter was killed, Burress told the audience “everything changes with that knock on the door”.

The other victim impact speaker was retired Princeton Fire Chief Gary Hanna.  He showed raw video of an accident scene and funeral of his brother and nephew who were killed by a drunk driver in Bureau County in 1986.  Hanna was one of the first two on the scene not knowing his brother was among the victims.

Peru firefighter Rodney Perez organized “Operation PROMise”.  He says they plan on doing a similar program again and said they’ll be successful even if they just get one person to make a good decision and not drink and drive.