Police: Cop drunk in fatal
wrong-way Thruway crash
The off-duty New York City
police officer at the wheel in a fatal wrong-way crash on the Thruway last
month had a blood-alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit, state
police announced Wednesday.
Toxicology results show that
Richard E. Christopher, 32, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent when he
drove his 2002 Dodge Dakota south on the northbound Thruway near Suffern,
slamming head-on into a Honda CRV driven by James DeVito of Airmont. A BAC
above 0.08 is a misdemeanor.
Both men were killed in the
crash, which occurred occurred just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 12.
No drugs were found in
Christopher's system. Christopher was assigned to the 43rd Precinct in the
Bronx and lived on South Airmont Road in Airmont with his girlfriend and her
son.
DeVito had no drugs or alcohol
in his blood at the time of the crash, state police said.
DeVito, 59, a recent widower,
was the executive chef at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh, where he was an
employee of Sodexo, a food services company.
DeVito's father, Joseph DeVito
Sr., who lives in Peoria, Arizona, was shocked to hear of the finding.
"The fact that he is a
police officer and drunk makes no sense at all," DeVito said. "It's a
sorry shame. My son was a beautiful guy. He was a master chef, he was a
musician, he was a good family man."
The officer's family said at
the time that they believed he had been headed to work. However, state police
Capt. Richard Mazzone said Wednesday that the investigation determined
Christopher was not going to work that morning but was headed home from a
friend's place in Orangetown.
Christopher's family was told
Wednesday of the autopsy results but did not wish to comment on them, his
sister, Melissa Castillo, said at the family's home in Nyack.
Investigators say two witnesses
reported that Christopher was traveling north in the northbound lanes before
making an illegal U-turn and driving south in the wrong direction.
The collision occurred just
after the five-year anniversary of one of the most horrific motor vehicles
crashes in recent memory.
On July 26, 2009, Diane Schuler
was high on marijuana and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent when she
drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway, slamming into another vehicle
and killing eight people, including four children.
