The state attorney general’s office has declined to pursue criminal charges against an NYPD police officer who was speeding to an emergency call last year and struck and killed a Queens home health aide who was walking to work, officials said Friday.
A review by the AG’s Office of Special Investigation found Police Officer Sudan Osorio responsible for the death of Zabina Gafoor, 52, in Far Rockaway on Feb. 17, 2023, but said he is not criminally liable.
The tragic sequence began about 8:30 p.m. when four cops in a marked Ford Explorer responding to an urgent call for assistance in making an arrest from other officers reached speeds of more than 70 mph in a 25-mph zone on Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway.
As the Explorer, driven by Osorio, reached Bay 32nd St., a civilian Toyota Corolla in front of them slowed to turn left. Osorio veered into the opposing traffic lane, trying to pass the Corolla on its left, but the Corolla also turned left, colliding with the police car.
GAFOOR
“Officer Osorio said he crossed the double yellow line into the eastbound lane because he did not see any cars coming toward him from the other direction,” the report said.
Police previously said the civilian driver did not see the oncoming Explorer as she turned.
The collision sent the police vehicle sliding across the intersection, where it struck Gafoor, who was standing just off the curb in the bicycle lane. Gafoor, who had been on her way to work, was thrown roughly 20 feet and died at the scene, despite efforts by the cop to revive her with CPR.
“The cops were worried about the person they hit,” witness Kevin Garcia previously told The News. “When they got out of the car, they got out with the first-aid kit and tried to do anything they could.”
The four police officers were taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital with minor injuries. The woman driving the Corolla wasn’t hurt.
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Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News The NYPD Highway Patrol investigates after an NYPD vehicle fatally struck Zabina Gafoor on Beach Channel Dr. and Beach 32nd St. in Queens, N.Y., on Friday, February 17, 2023. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News)
Under state law, an officer who causes a death while responding to an emergency can’t be charged with a crime unless the officer acts recklessly or intentionally. The report found the police driver responsible for Gafoor’s death, but not criminally liable.
“The evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s conduct was a gross deviation of the standard that would have been observed by a reasonable officer in the same circumstances,” the report said, noting the officer activated his lights and sirens and braked to slow his speed from 73 mph to 55.
“The officer was speeding because he was responding to an emergency, including a report of ‘officers in need of additional units.’”
In the fatal incident’s aftermath, the report said, the NYPD failed to give the officer driving the vehicle an alcohol test, in violation of the department’s Patrol Guide. The report notes there was no evidence the officer was impaired.
The report also recommend the department should make sure every officer is trained annually in emergency driving.
The NYPD press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
