NEW YORK (WABC) — Prosecutors have charged two NYPD officers for allegedly covering up a drunk driving crash involving an off-duty officer in Manhattan.
Officials say Michael Caligiuri, 31, and Ryan McLoughlin, 30, went the extra mile to conceal that the driver was also a cop when they responded to the 2024 crash.
It happened when a bystander called 911 to report a crash involving an intoxicated driver at West 26th and 8th Avenue on Oct. 16 of that year.
When the defendants arrived to the scene of the crash, a civilian informed them the driver was intoxicated and had identified himself as a police officer.
The driver, Eli Garcia, struggled to show the officers his license or vehicle registration, but did show them his NYPD identification card, officials say.
Caligiuri and McLoughlin are accused of texting each other on their personal phones during the incident and repositioning their body cameras to capture as little footage as possible.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a written statement the officers “went to great lengths to protect a fellow officer from accountability,” which, “significantly harms the public trust in law enforcement,” and that, “everyone must be treated the same under the law, regardless of their position or background.”
“These police officers did their job. We should not be here today. This case should have never been put in the grand jury should have never been in this courthouse,” PBA President Pat Henry said.
Dozens of members of the PBA showed up in support of Caligiuri and McLoughlin who both entered not guilty pleas on Friday.
“What you saw today is another overreach by Alvin Bragg. Every day he wakes up, instead of thinking about protecting New Yorkers, he’s thinking of ways about going after police officers,” Henry said. “This case was resolved a year ago, and the person that was involved was arrested, was prosecuted. These police officers did their job,” Henry said.
Prosecutors say Garcia later drove away without permission to do so and the defendants made no attempt to stop him or call over the radio that the driver fled the scene.
A few hours later, an NYPD duty captain noticed Garcia’s vehicle parked illegally in a crosswalk and found him to be intoxicated. He was arrested and charged.
Garcia pleaded guilty to DWI in December 2024 and was sentenced to a conditional discharge, a license suspension and fines before he resigned from the department.
Caligiuri and McLoughlin have been suspended without pay.
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