The New York Attorney General's Office has concluded its investigation into the fatal incident involving Ervin Zacarias Antonio Agustin, who was struck and killed by a police vehicle last May. The report determined that criminal charges against the NYPD officer would not be pursued, with the OSI finding that the evidence did not support a conclusion of criminal behavior beyond a reasonable doubt, as announced in a report released by Attorney General Letitia James' Office of Special Investigation (OSI).
On the early morning of May 19, 2024, an NYPD officer was en route to a site of a vehicle collision in Queens when his vehicle encountered Mr. Agustin, who was attempting an ill-fated crossing of the Van Wyck Expressway, despite pedestrian traffic being prohibited on the expressway, the officer had his siren and lights activated, and was traveling at 63 MPH in response to the emergency situation. This took place near a construction zone, with the officer's speed exceeding the 50 MPH limit, and OSI has stated that the officer's actions, based on the Vehicle and Traffic Law, Penal Law and case law, cannot lead to charges unless there is clear evidence of recklessness or intent.
In the OSI's detailed analysis of the incident, recklessness is defined as conscious disregard of a "substantial and unjustifiable" risk that amounts to a "gross deviation" from what would be considered reasonable conduct by an officer in the same situation. Although the death of Mr. Agustin occurred as a result of the collision, the OSI could not establish, to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer's behavior met the threshold of recklessness required for a manslaughter charge.
According to the report by Attorney General Letitia James' Office, the officer involved was not impaired by drugs or alcohol neither was there evidence of him being distracted at the time of the incident; therefore, the OSI concluded the absence of sufficient evidence to bring forward criminal charges against the officer. The Office of Special Investigation's mandate is precisely to assess such cases where a law enforcement officer's on-duty conduct results in someone's death, aiming to discern the line between unfortunate tragedy and punishable crime but in this instance, the decision has been clear based on the evidence available – no charges are to be filed.
