Rugged road to recovery

Marisa O’Neil

In the last minutes of the last shift Costa Mesa police motorcycle

officer Dennis Dickens was able to work, he warned his partner to be

careful. A drunk driver had almost hit them during their shift the

night before.

Dickens and partner Tony Yannizzi, who have worked together off

and on since they attended the police academy together 10 years ago,

suited up at about 10 p.m. that May night last year, got on their

motorcycles and headed home.

Moments later, after they made their way from the Costa Mesa

Freeway to the southbound carpool lane of the San Diego Freeway, it

came like a shot out of the darkness.

A drunken driver riding a motorcycle at more than 100 mph struck

Dickens’ motorcycle, knocking him off and into Yannizzi’s bike.

Dickens tumbled onto the freeway asphalt, with drivers swerving to

avoid hitting him.

“I was tumbling head over heels on the pavement,” Dickens

recalled. “I remember that and seeing the sparks from my motorcycle

and hearing tires screeching around me and thinking, ‘When is this

going to stop?’ I remember feeling the road rash on my skin. I didn’t

think it was ever going to stop.”

The accident left him in the hospital for five days with a

fractured pelvis, two sprained ankles, a major brain concussion and

road rash.

Dickens, still rehabilitating from his injuries, has not been able

to return to work since.

“I miss him,” Yannizzi sighed, thinking of his partner.

Like father, like son

Dickens remembers always wanting to be a motorcycle officer. His

father rode a motorcycle for the Costa Mesa Police Department until

he retired about five years ago.

“I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” he said.

Before his accident, Dickens got off fairly easily in his six

years on motorcycle detail. In one of the most dangerous police

assignments, where serious injury is only as far away as the next

careless driver, he avoided any crashes or injuries.

He earned three awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for

arresting more than 100 drunken drivers in a year.

“He’s the one -- when you want to work hard as an officer, you

want to work hard to be like Dennis,” Yannizzi said.

After the crash, Dickens had surgery to repair his skin abrasions,

and he moved with the help of a metal walker for two months while his

ankles healed. He still goes to physical therapy and balance therapy

twice a week and does exercises at home twice a day.

The brain injury he suffered left him with some memory loss,

vertigo and difficulty balancing. He still can’t drive and doesn’t

know for sure when, or if, he’ll be able to return to work.

“He’s at the point now where he wants to get back to work so bad,”

Yannizzi said. “He’s strong. He’s coping as best as anyone can. I

think it’ll kill him if he doesn’t come back.”

His wife, Maria Dickens, quit her job as a nurse to care for him

and their two children, 4-year-old Eric and Ava, now 16 months.

Though workers’ compensation is taking care of his medical bills,

they took out a second mortgage to help with general expenses, he

said.

It’s been difficult, Maria Dickens said, watching her husband go

from being totally independent to relying upon her for so much,

including rides to the doctor.

“I feel like my freedom is gone because I can’t drive,” Dennis

Dickens said. “It’s really tough. I’ve worked my whole life. I miss

the guys from work and the camaraderie.”

An unbelievable accident

Javier Gasga, who was 33 at the time, was driving his motorcycle

with a blood-alcohol level at nearly twice the legal limit the night

of May 31, 2004. When he struck Dickens’ motorcycle and knocked him

off, the force propelled Gasga onto Dickens’ motorcycle, and Gasga

briefly rode it before crashing.

“I saw it, but it never registered; it happened so fast,” Yannizzi

said. “[Dickens] hit my bike, and I looked over and saw [Gasga] hit

Dennis’ seat and go flying over handlebars.”

Yannizzi ran into the freeway lanes to pull the man to safety,

thinking it was his partner. Then he realized it wasn’t.

“I was pulling him out of the roadway and thought, “My God, this

isn’t even Dennis.”

He found Dickens in the raised center median of the freeway, where

he’d pulled himself to escape the screech of tires trying to avoid

him on the road.

Gasga, of Mission Viejo, was also injured in the accident. When he

appeared in court more than a month later, nearly 60 Costa Mesa

officers, including Chief John Hensley, showed up to support Dickens.

The judge chastised the officers at the time for their display,

and Gasga’s public defender complained that it was an “act of

intimidation.”

Gasga was scheduled to go to trial for driving under the influence

and related charges starting Feb. 7. He instead pleaded guilty to all

counts.

He was sentenced to four years, four months in state prison,

Deputy Dist. Atty. Nicole Nicholson said.

Dickens recalled what he said at the hearing.

“I got up there and said that I hope Gasga learns from his

mistake,” Dickens said. “He decided to go out and have cocktails, get

on a motorcycle and drive 100 miles per hour. Him going out and

having a good time will affect me the rest of my life.”

Gasga apologized to him in court and said he agreed to the charges

to spare Dickens more time away from his family during a lengthy

trial, the officer said.

While the plea brings closure to that part of his recovery,

Dickens continues his rehabilitation and waits to find out if he can

work again. In the meantime, he’s making the most of the situation.

“If there was any good out of this, it’s seeing my kids every

day,” he said. “My little girl was 7 months when I got hit. I’ve seen

her first steps and watched her crawl for the first time.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.