CBS2 Sources: NYPD Lieutenant, 2 Officers Suspended Following Boozy Hit-And-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- A recently-promoted NYPD lieutenant and two other officers were suspended for reportedly fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run in Staten Island after drinking at a local bar, sources said Thursday.
CBS2 police sources confirm that Lt. Vincent Molinini was not behind the wheel of the vehicle that crashed into a parked car and a hair salon. However, he may still lose the pay raise from his promotion.
Detective Christopher Corulla sideswiped a vehicle before crashing into the front of Hair-Do or Dye Salon on Arthur Kill Road following a Friday night out at Rookie's Sport Bar, as reported by the Daily News.
They were celebrating a promotion at the bar, investigators said.
Sources said Molinini and the second officer, Frank Muirhead, then put Corulla into the detective's car and drove away from the crash.
The vehicle that was damaged happened to belong to the DJ at the bar, who chased after the cops and caught up with them at a nearby red light, the Daily News reported.
The lieutenant and officer told the DJ that the officer who had crashed was feeling sick, and the DJ agreed to settle the situation with them the next day, sources said.
Corulla also claimed he put the car into drive accidentally while trying to back up. He has been with NYPD since 2005.
Molinini has spent more than 20 years with department, while Muirhead served for eight years, the newspaper reported.
There were fortunately no injuries reported in the crash.
However, the owner of the salon said the crash will cost $80,000 in damages and that it will be several months before the business goes back to normal, the newspaper reported.
"The car backed all the way in," salon owner Crystal MacNair told the Daily News. "Half of my salon is destroyed ... You never think something like this is going to happen."
The NYPD has not commented on the incident aside from announcing the suspensions.
All three men were on the department's Force Investigation Division, which looks into incidents where officers fire their guns or where someone dies in police custody.