Two NYPD officers who responded to a victim’s 911 call about a drunk SUV driver crashing into his car let the suspect flee after arriving at the scene to find the hammered driver was an off-duty cop, Manhattan prosecutors charged on Friday.
The allegations were included in a five-count indictment unsealed against Officers Michael Caligiuri, 31, and Ryan McLoughlin, 30, as they appeared for their arraignments in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. They each pleaded not guilty to tampering with physical evidence and public records, falsifying records and official misconduct.
Prosecutors say the cops rolled up to the scene of the crash on W. 26th St. near Eighth Ave. the night of Oct. 16, 2024, where the victim, a man unidentified in court documents, told McLoughlin that then-NYPD Officer Eli Garcia was drunk and had rammed his white Infiniti SUV into the front of the man’s car.
The victim said Garcia showed him his police badge when they pulled over after the Chelsea fender bender, with the cop sporting visibly “droopy” eyes and struggling to find his insurance card, court documents detail. An NYPD parking placard was positioned on the dashboard of Garcia’s SUV.
Caligiuri, of Long Beach, L.I., didn’t ask Garcia whether he’d been drinking and placed his body-worn camera in a position to avoid capturing their interaction, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
He and McLoughlin, of Suffern, L.I., then began texting each other on their personal phones at the scene in an exchange that was not detected by their body-cams.
“Idk what to do,” McLoughlin texted his colleague, prosecutors allege.
“It[‘]s bad man,” Caligiuri replied, with McLoughlin suggesting in response that he could hold his body-cam for him.
Caligiuri slid his body-cam off his chest and passed it to McLoughlin, who positioned it in such a way as to make it look like Caligiuri remained standing next to him. In reality, Caligiuri walked away so his voice wouldn’t be captured as he called a supervising lieutenant, according to prosecutors.
A short while later, Garcia fled the scene, forgetting his license, prosecutors say. McLoughlin and Caligiuri waved their flashlights but allegedly made no meaningful effort to stop the drunk driver from getting back on the road, nor did they report the hit-and-run over their police radios.
Garcia was arrested a few hours later when an NYPD duty captain made a home visit and found him still drunk and his car illegally parked in the crosswalk, according to court documents.
Garcia pleaded guilty in December 2024 to driving while impaired and was sentenced to a conditional discharge and around $1,500 in fines and restitution. His license was suspended for just 90 days, and he quit his job on the force.
In court Friday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office provided the two cops an opportunity to dodge a criminal record for the alleged coverup and letting a drunk driver back on the road.
Prosecutors offered them a deal to plead to tampering with physical evidence, an E felony, plus two misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, in exchange for a three-year conditional discharge.
In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson said the Police Department initiated the probe into the officers and referred it to the DA for prosecution.
However, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry, who was among more than a dozen NYPD members who packed the courtroom Friday in solidarity with McLoughlin and Caligiuri, said the police union would back the cops in their fight against the charges. He criticized the DA as pro-crime and anti-cop after the proceeding.
“What you saw today is another overreach by Alvin Bragg,” Hendry said. “Every day he wakes up, instead of thinking about protecting New Yorkers, he’s thinking of ways about going after police officers. His office is more concerned about arresting police officers than prosecuting criminals.
“This case was resolved a year ago and the person that was involved was arrested, was prosecuted.”
In a statement, Bragg said the two cops were being treated the same as anyone who comes before his office.
“The defendants allegedly went to great lengths to protect a fellow officer from accountability,” the DA said. “This type of conduct significantly harms the public trust in law enforcement. Everyone must be treated the same under the law, regardless of their position or background.”
With Thomas Tracy
