Westchester DA’s Office Finds No Provable Criminal Conduct in Tuckahoe Police Response — But Preferential Treatment of Former Tuckahoe Police Chief’s Wife, Donna Costanzo, Questions Remain
TUCKAHOE, N.Y. — Exactly one month after Black Westchester first reported that the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office was reviewing the Tuckahoe Police Department’s handling of an incident involving the wife of its former police chief, the DA’s office announced Tuesday, Sept. 22, that the available evidence was insufficient to support criminal charges against any of the officers involved.
But while the criminal investigation may be closed, the District Attorney’s own findings raise many of the same questions Black Westchester asked when we first reported the story on Aug. 22 — particularly whether Donna Costanzo received the same treatment another person would have received under similar circumstances. Costanzo is the wife of retired Tuckahoe Police Chief John Costanzo, who currently serves as Executive Director of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association.
The District Attorney’s Office said its Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Bureau conducted a comprehensive review that included examining police body-worn camera footage and surveillance video, interviewing Tuckahoe and Yonkers police officers, and speaking with civilian eyewitnesses, including the driver of an Amazon delivery truck struck during the Tuckahoe incident.
Following that review, the DA’s Office determined “that all of the available evidence that was accumulated is insufficient to establish provable criminal conduct by any one of the Tuckahoe police officers involved in the incident and, therefore, does not establish probable cause required to support the filing of criminal charges.”
Three Collisions in Less Than 25 Minutes
According to the District Attorney’s findings, Costanzo was allegedly operating a black Infiniti sedan in Yonkers on Aug. 14 when she struck a parked vehicle on Falmouth Road at approximately 2:53 p.m. and left the scene. Approximately 17 minutes later, she allegedly struck another vehicle in a Central Avenue parking lot in Yonkers and again left the scene. About five minutes later, Costanzo allegedly struck an Amazon delivery truck legally parked near Columbus Avenue and Main Street in Tuckahoe.
Following the two Yonkers incidents, the Yonkers Police Department notified Tuckahoe police about the alleged hit-and-runs and asked officers to be on the lookout for Costanzo’s vehicle. Two Tuckahoe police officers subsequently responded to the Tuckahoe accident scene.
Body Cameras Stop Recording
The DA’s review found that the available body-worn camera footage from the officers was limited. According to the District Attorney’s Office, Motorola data indicated that one responding officer appeared to deactivate his body-worn camera moments after approaching Costanzo, who was seated in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. The officer denied intentionally turning off the camera.
The second responding officer’s body-worn camera stopped recording approximately one minute and 45 seconds after the officer arrived. Motorola records confirmed that camera’s battery had died. A Tuckahoe detective and an off-duty lieutenant also responded. The lieutenant arrived after Costanzo had already left and did not interact with her.
No Sobriety Investigation Conducted
Perhaps the most significant finding involved what officers did not do. According to the DA’s Office, witness testimony indicated that Costanzo exhibited signs that could have been consistent with intoxication. However, neither responding officers nor civilian witnesses reported smelling alcohol on her breath or observing other definitive signs of intoxication. But Tuckahoe officers never investigated whether she was impaired.
The DA’s review found that none of the Tuckahoe officers who responded evaluated Costanzo’s sobriety or investigated whether she was impaired. The review also found that the department did not document a reason for failing to conduct such an investigation. Instead, one responding officer acknowledged during the DA’s review that he knew Costanzo was the wife of the former Tuckahoe Police Chief. That officer then drove Costanzo home following the accident.
Yonkers Police Later Issued Two Summonses
Following Black Westchester’s original report, we contacted both the Yonkers and Tuckahoe police departments seeking additional information. The Tuckahoe Police Department has yet to respond to Black Westchester.
The Yonkers Police Department did respond, confirming that officers investigated two hit-and-run crashes in Yonkers involving a 2018 Infiniti on Aug. 14th. In both cases, the vehicle had left before Yonkers officers arrived. YPD told Black Westchester that because its officers never personally observed Costanzo operating the vehicle and did not encounter her at either collision, they had no opportunity to assess her physical condition, conduct field sobriety tests, or administer chemical testing.
During the follow-up investigation, Yonkers police identified the vehicle and its registered owner and later went to the owner’s Tuckahoe residence. Officers subsequently identified the individual who had been driving during the two Yonkers incidents. Costanzo was issued two summonses for Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Property Damage Without Reporting, one for each Yonkers incident.
No Criminal Charges Does Not Answer the Question We Asked
When Black Westchester first reported this story on Aug. 22, we asked several questions. Who responded to the scene? Were standard police procedures followed? Why was Costanzo reportedly driven home rather than subjected to further investigation? Did her relationship to the former Tuckahoe Police Chief influence the way she was treated? And perhaps most importantly: Did Donna Costanzo receive the same treatment that any other person would have received under the same circumstances? One month later, we now know considerably more than we did when we first asked that question.
According to the District Attorney’s own findings, police had been notified that the vehicle was connected to two alleged hit-and-run incidents in Yonkers. Costanzo then allegedly struck a third vehicle in Tuckahoe. Witnesses described behavior that could have been consistent with intoxication. Officers conducted no sobriety investigation. The department documented no reason why no impairment investigation was conducted. One responding officer knew Costanzo was the wife of the former police chief. And rather than investigating her for possible impairment, that officer drove her home.
The District Attorney’s Office concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish criminal conduct by the officers. That is an important legal determination. But criminal conduct was never the only question. The question Black Westchester asked was whether Costanzo received the same treatment an ordinary motorist would have received after allegedly leaving the scene of two crashes, becoming involved in a third collision, and displaying behavior witnesses believed could have been consistent with intoxication.
The District Attorney’s investigation focused on whether the actions of the Tuckahoe police officers amounted to provable criminal conduct. The DA’s Office also clarified the jurisdictional issue, explaining that the individual motor vehicle incidents fell within the jurisdictions where they occurred — Yonkers for the first two collisions and Tuckahoe for the third.
But whether prosecutors could establish criminal conduct by the responding officers is a considerably different question from whether those officers exercised appropriate judgment, followed departmental procedures, or afforded Donna Costanzo preferential treatment because of her relationship to former Tuckahoe Police Chief John Costanzo.
The DA’s investigation has now established several facts that were still allegations when Black Westchester first reported this story on Aug. 22nd. There was no sobriety investigation. There was no documented explanation for why no sobriety investigation was conducted. One of the responding officers acknowledged that he knew Costanzo was the wife of the former Tuckahoe Police Chief. And that officer drove her home following the accident.
The DA’s review also raised concerns about the handling of body-worn cameras at the scene. Although prosecutors emphasized that the issue was not the primary focus of their investigation, the office recommended that the Tuckahoe Police Department revise its body-worn camera policy.
According to the DA’s Office:
“Although not the primary focus of this review, our office recommended that the Tuckahoe Police Department modify its body-worn camera policy to make clear that officers must keep their body-worn cameras activated upon responding to a motor vehicle accident and until the individual involved has been cleared of any potential criminal wrongdoing.”
The DA’s Office further announced that it had referred the matter back to Tuckahoe Police Chief Larry Rotta for an internal investigation. That is significant. Because while prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to establish probable cause for criminal charges against any of the officers, the matter has not simply disappeared. Questions surrounding departmental policy, officer conduct, judgment, and accountability have now been placed back in the hands of the Tuckahoe Police Department itself.
The DA also noted that the Yonkers Police Department has filed two charges of Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 600(1)(a) against Costanzo stemming from the two incidents in Yonkers. Those matters are currently pending in Yonkers City Court.
The District Attorney’s Office closed its statement with a message that should not be overlooked: “We urge all law enforcement agencies in Westchester County to ensure that their officers’ conduct is consistent with their obligation to protect public safety, regardless of the circumstances or individuals involved.”
The DA’s Office also released all known body-worn camera footage recorded after Tuckahoe officers arrived at the scene of the Tuckahoe accident and collected during its review. The footage can be viewed below.
Black Westchester believes the findings speak loudly to the central question we raised one month ago. The criminal investigation may be over, but the public accountability question remains: Would someone without those connections have been treated the same way? That was the question then.
After learning that police had been alerted to two previous alleged hit-and-run incidents, that no sobriety investigation was conducted following a third collision, that no reason for that decision was documented, that a responding officer knew Costanzo was the former police chief’s wife, and that the officer ultimately drove her home, it remains the question now.
And while the District Attorney’s Office has completed its criminal review and referred the matter back to Tuckahoe for an internal investigation, the Tuckahoe Police Department has yet to respond to Black Westchester’s questions.
We are still waiting.
