An NYPD sergeant was arrested Monday on aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges after she drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway while drunk and off duty, crashed head-on into another driver and killed him, the state attorney general's office said.
Sgt. Tiffany Howell, 47, had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she drove her personal vehicle south in the highway’s northbound lanes at more than 50 mph and collided with 61-year-old Peekskill resident Manuel Boitel on the night of Jan. 22 in Westchester County, according to the indictment.
Boitel was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight, authorities said.
Howell, who lives in Warwick, Orange County, had helped organize a party for an NYPD fraternal organization earlier in the night, according to social media posts from the organization. She faces several charges, the most serious of which carries a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
According to court records, Howell pleaded not guilty in Westchester County Court and posted bail after Judge George Fufidio set it at a $250,000 bond with a $100,000 cash alternative. She is due back in court on March 18.
Howell, an 18-year NYPD veteran who worked in the department's crime control strategies unit, is listed as treasurer of the NYPD Holy Name Society, a Catholic fraternal organization that held a $150 dinner and cigar event featuring an open bar at Mom's Cigar Warehouse in Scarsdale on the night of the crash, according to the social media posts. The venue is about 10 miles from the crash site.
An NYPD spokesperson said Howell has been suspended without pay. Shortly after the crash, records showed she had filed for retirement, a move that could preserve her pension. If she is convicted of a felony she will be automatically terminated under NYPD policy.
A lawyer for the Sergeants Benevolent Association, which is representing Howell in the case, declined to comment. An attorney for Boitel's family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The New York attorney general's office of special investigation is handling the case. The AG is required under state law to investigate incidents where a police officer may have caused someone’s death, whether the officer was on or off duty at the time.
