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Ex-Cop Who Killed 4 People In DWI Released From Prison
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 28, 2012
Modified Apr 29, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 28, 2012
Modified Apr 29, 2012
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In 2001, an off-duty police officer who spent up to 12 hours drinking before going to his Brooklyn precinct struck and killed a 24-year-old pregnant woman, her 4-year-old son, and her 16-year-old sister. Medical staff delivered the woman's baby boy, who died 13 hours later, and police officer Joseph Gray was eventually convicted of four counts of second degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison and yesterday, after 10 years behind bars, Gray was released.
The Staten Island Advance reports, "Gray...was conditionally discharged after being denied parole three times, most recently in January of last year. He will be on supervised released until April 28, 2017, which represents the expiration date of his prison sentence, said Linda Foglia, an agency spokeswoman. Parolees on supervised release are subject to substance-abuse testing, prohibited from drinking alcohol or going to bars and must find work, among a number of other requirements, said Carole Weaver, another Corrections spokeswoman. Gray must also participate in a DWI-impact panel, she said."
On August 4, 2001, when Gray had finished his night shift at the 72nd Precinct at 8 a.m., he started drinking all the way up until he needed to head back to the station at 9 p.m. He never went home to Staten Island that day and was traveling from a strip club (that was off-limits to the NYPD because it was suspected of corruption) when he struck pregnant Maria Herrera, her 4-year-old Andy, and her teen sister Dilcia Pena in Sunset Park. His blood alcohol was measured at 0.16.
State corrections spokeswoman Foglia told the Advance that inmates can be released for good behavior after serving at least 2/3s of their sentence: "Gray had no disciplinary history while in prison and completed DWI and anger-management programs, Ms. Foglia said. He also was a teacher's assistant in a general business class, earned paralegal and personal-training degrees in prison and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings."
Gray's family said in a statement, "We are all happy [he] is home. He's thrilled to be back with his family," but he did not comment. Last year, when Gray was denied parole, he told the Advance, "Everyone knows the true reason I am not going to be granted parole, and that is publicity. That, however, should not be a determining factor," and pointed out he made a training video for the NYPD in 2010 to warn against drunk driving, "People should remember that what happened to me can happen to anyone who has ever gotten behind the wheel of a car after drinking. Too many people, myself included, think, 'It'll never happen to me.' Well, it can." Too bad that video came after one police officer fatally struck a Brooklyn woman—and there have numerous been troubling incidents of allegedly drunk cops driving just last year.
Tagged
brooklyn
conviction
dwi
joseph gray
manslaughter
off duty cop
prison
release
sentence
staten island
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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