A former New York City police sergeant was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for killing another driver in a drunken, wrong-way crash on the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County.
Tiffany Howell, 48, of Warwick in Orange County, received concurrent sentences after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter, according to an Oct. 28 announcement from Attorney General Letitia James.
Howell was off duty when she drove south in the parkway’s northbound lanes at more than 50 mph at 11:37 p.m. Jan. 22, the attorney general’s office said.
Her car struck a vehicle driven by Manuel Boitel head-on. Boitel was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
Howell’s blood alcohol content was at least 0.18 at the time of the crash, according to the announcement.
She pleaded guilty Aug. 19 before Judge Anne Bianchi in Westchester County Court. Aggravated vehicular homicide is a class B felony, and second-degree manslaughter is a class C felony.
Howell’s driver’s license has been revoked, and she waived her right to appeal.
The attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation assesses reported incidents in which a police or peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused a death through an act or omission. State Executive Law Section 70-b applies whether the officer was on duty or off duty and whether the person who died was armed, unarmed, in custody or incarcerated.
If that assessment indicates an officer may have caused a death, the office conducts a full investigation.
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