What Happened
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) released footage from three security cameras that captured the crash. The office said the video was released Thursday, Oct. 22, as part of its ongoing investigation into the death.
According to the attorney general’s office, the crash happened shortly after 10 p.m. on June 12. An off-duty Suffolk County Police Department officer driving his personal vehicle “struck a car that had just turned left across Waverly Avenue onto Buckley Road in Patchogue.” The man who died was in the passenger seat of that car.
The office said the off-duty officer and the driver of the car were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. The passenger was also taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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Location: The crash was in North Patchogue.
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Vehicles and directions: The passenger, a 45-year-old East Patchogue man, was riding in a southbound 2023 Kia Forte turning left from Waverly Avenue onto Buckley Road. The officer was traveling north on Waverly Avenue in a 2016 Dodge Ram.
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People involved: The officer is 55 years old. The Kia’s driver is 79 years old.
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Hospitals: The officer and the Kia’s driver were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital. The passenger was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in Patchogue.
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The sedan slows at a green light with its left blinker flashing.
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Two oncoming vehicles pass before the sedan attempts the turn.
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A large white pickup truck strikes the sedan on the right-front passenger door.
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The collision sends both vehicles off the road onto what appears to be a grassy area.
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Another angle shows a person who appears to be the pickup’s driver climbing out and shining a flashlight on the sedan.
Long Island Life & Politics reported in June that the crash occurred on June 11 at 10:10 p.m. The attorney general’s office, the official record, gives the date as June 12.
FingerLakes1.com reported that the attorney general’s office warned the videos contain disturbing content.
The attorney general’s office said the footage was released under James’ directive that OSI camera footage be made public “to increase transparency and strengthen public trust in these matters.” The office added that “the release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime.”
Under New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI assesses every incident in which a police officer or peace officer may have caused a death, whether the officer was on duty or off duty, the office said.
What we don’t know yet: The attorney general’s office has not announced whether its investigation will result in criminal charges, and no source has said whether any departmental action has been taken regarding the officer.
Sources
- Newsday
- New York State Attorney General (official record)
- New York State Attorney General (official record)
- FingerLakes1.com
- Long Island Life & Politics