New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) released its report on the deaths of Marcelo Pelaez and Leonardo Rodriguez-Mendoza in Queens County. Following a thorough and comprehensive investigation, which included crash reconstruction analysis, review of security camera video, and witness interviews, OSI determined that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer committed a crime, and therefore criminal charges could not be pursued in this matter.
On May 24, 2021, around 12:30 a.m., an off-duty member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) was driving home with his wife and daughter after visiting friends. While driving northbound on Woodhaven Boulevard at the intersection with Rockaway Boulevard, the officer hit Mr. Pelaez and Mr. Rodriguez-Mendoza, who were crossing Woodhaven Boulevard from east to west in the northern crosswalk. The officer and multiple bystanders called 911 to request medical assistance. Mr. Pelaez and Mr. Rodriguez-Mendoza were transported to a local hospital. Mr. Pelaez was pronounced dead upon arrival. Mr. Rodriguez-Mendoza was in critical condition and unresponsive; he died in the hospital on July 14, 2021.
Collision reconstruction analysis by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad (CIS) and corroborated by an independent expert engaged by OSI determined that the officer had the green light and was driving approximately five to nine miles above the posted speed limit of 30 MPH when the collision occurred.
Security camera video secured from earlier in the evening shows the officer and his family meeting friends on Myrtle Avenue in Queens around 9:30 p.m. The video shows the officer drink from what appeared to be three beers from a few minutes before 10 p.m. until almost 11 p.m. The officer and his family left around 11:22 p.m., and security camera video from a gas station next to a Burger King on Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens shows the family enter the restaurant before getting back in the car with bags of food at 12:04 a.m.
Officers at the scene reported that the officer did not smell of alcohol and showed no signs of impairment. When CIS arrived nearly two hours after the incident occurred, the officer submitted to three field sobriety tests. He passed all three tests but declined to submit to a breathalyzer test, which resulted in a 30-day suspension from NYPD.
Under New York law, proving criminally negligent homicide requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a person failed to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death would occur; that the failure to perceive the risk was a gross deviation from a reasonable person’s standard of care; and that the person engaged in blameworthy conduct.
In this case, though the officer was driving five to nine miles above the speed limit, this does not qualify as “dangerous speeding” under precedent. Further, while he was drinking alcohol earlier in the evening before the collision, there is no direct evidence of the amount of alcohol in his system at the time of the incident, and the multiple witnesses who saw and spoke with the officer after the collision did not identify any signs of impairment. Given the circumstances and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer had engaged in “risk-creating behavior” or “seriously blameworthy carelessness.”
The NYPD’s patrol guide requires that if qualified to do so, the patrol supervisor must administer an alcohol test to any police officer involved in a collision that results in a death. CIS did not attempt to breath-test the officer involved in this incident until almost two hours after the collision, when CIS arrived on the scene. OSI therefore recommends that all patrol supervisors be trained in the administration of breathalyzer tests and field sobriety tests so that any on-duty or off-duty police officer, or any civilian, involved in a motor vehicle collision can be tested on scene as soon as practicable to ensure the most accurate results.
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