Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The claimant failed to refute evidence provided by deposition testimony and police reports that the claimant's decedent, while intoxicated, stole a State-owned vehicle from the grounds of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center. The decedent crashed the vehicle into a tree shortly thereafter, and sustained fatal injuries.
We find that the court properly dismissed the claim based upon common-law negligence against the defendants, since the owner of a stolen vehicle is not liable, as a matter of law, for the negligence of a thief (see, Epstein v. Mediterranean Motors, 109 A.D.2d 340, affd 66 N.Y.2d 1018; see also, Koenig v. Price, 200 A.D.2d 559; Howard v. Kiskiel, 152 A.D.2d 950; Mocciaro v Lopergolo, 125 A.D.2d 974).
Moreover, the court properly dismissed the claim based on a violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1210 (a) since the decedent was not within the class of persons the statute was designed to protect (see, Mocciaro v. Lopergolo, supra; Rushink v Gerstheimer, 82 A.D.2d 944). Public policy "generally denies judicial relief to those injured in the course of committing a serious criminal act" (Barker v. Kallash, 63 N.Y.2d 19, 24; see also, Tillmon v. New York City Hous. Auth., 203 A.D.2d 19; La Page v. Smith, 166 A.D.2d 831).
Under the circumstances, the claimant's request for further discovery was properly denied. Mangano, P.J., Thompson, O'Brien and Florio, JJ., concur.