A New York police sergeant was charged with killing a 61-year-old man on Monday, more than a month after she drove the wrong way down the Taconic State Parkway and slammed her car head-on into his vehicle.
The sergeant, Tiffany Howell, 47, had a blood alcohol level that was nearly three times the legal limit when she drove a 2021 Infiniti on Jan. 22 south in the northbound lane in Mount Pleasant, according to the office of Letitia James, the state attorney general, whose office investigates police killings. She crashed into a 2024 Toyota RAV4 driven by Manuel Boitel, a doorman who worked in Manhattan and lived in Peekskill, N.Y.
Mr. Boitel died at a nearby hospital hours later. Sergeant Howell was arraigned on Monday, following a grand jury investigation, on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of vehicular manslaughter, one of those for driving while intoxicated.
If she is convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide, the most serious charge, she faces a maximum sentence of 25 years. Sergeant Howell, who appeared in Westchester County court with her left arm in a pink cast and in sling, pleaded not guilty. Judge George Fufidio set her bail at $100,000 cash.
Sergeant Howell’s blood alcohol level was .26, said Allison Stuart, a prosecutor in the attorney general’s office. The sergeant was coming back from a “social event,” where video cameras showed her consuming several drinks, before she crashed her vehicle into Mr. Boitel, Ms. Stuart said.
On the night of the crash, Sergeant Howell was scheduled to host a party with other officers at a cigar bar in Scarsdale, N.Y. The party, held for the Holy Name Society, a police fraternal organization, had an open bar and offered “premium cigars,” music and a buffet-style dinner.
A driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or more is considered to be intoxicated, according to New York State law.
“She had no regard for his life or any other life for that matter as she drove into oncoming traffic at nearly tree times the legal limit,” Ms. Stuart said.
Sergeant Howell, who has never been arrested before, lives in Warwick, N.Y., is married and has two teenage children, her lawyer, Andrew Quinn, said in court.
“The nature of these allegations is just a stark departure from the behavior and characteristics she’s displayed her entire life,” he said.
Mr. Boitel’s family, including his wife, his two sons, Marvin and Eric Boitel, and his daughter-in-law, Erika Boitel, sat quietly watching the proceedings. His wife, Marisol Cabrera Boitel, began sobbing as Ms. Stuart described the crash.
Jonathan Roberts, the family’s attorney, said the indictment was “an important step towards accountability.”
Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas.
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