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Manhattan DA charges 2 NYPD officers with covering up another’s DWI crash
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Feb 20, 2026
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By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Feb 20, 2026
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Two NYPD officers were charged Friday with covering up for a third officer who crashed his car while he was drunk, prosecutors said.
The officers, 31-year-old Michael Caligiuri and Ryan McLoughlin, 30, responded to the crash in Manhattan in 2024, but then obstructed their body cameras and did not question the officer driving about being intoxicated after he showed them his NYPD identification, according to prosecutors. They eventually let him drive away from the scene, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
They each face charges including tampering with public records, falsifying business records and official misconduct, the DA’s office said.
An NYPD spokesperson says the NYPD started the investigation into the officers' conduct and then referred it to the DA's office. Attorneys for the two officers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The defendants allegedly went to great lengths to protect a fellow officer from accountability,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “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.”
Caligiuri and McLoughlin responded to a car crash near Eighth Avenue and West 26th Street in Manhattan soon after 10 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2024, according to the DA’s office.
When they arrived, the driver of the car, Eli Garcia, showed Caligiuri his NYPD identification card, but struggled to provide his driver’s license and could not find his car’s registration, according to prosecutors.
Caligiuri and McLoughlin never questioned Garcia about being intoxicated, and Caligiuri moved his body camera so it would not capture Garcia on video, according to court records.
The two officers then started texting each other from their personal cellphones. In one of those texts, McLoughlin offered to hold Caligiuri’s body camera, prosecutors said. Caligiuiri then took off his camera, handed it to McLoughlin, walked away and called a supervising lieutenant, according to the charges .
Soon after, Garcia drove away without receiving permission to do so and the officers made no attempt to stop him, other than waving their flashlights at the back of his car, prosecutors charged. They also did not alert other officers on their police radios that Garcia had driven away, according to the charges against them.
An NYPD captain later went to Garcia’s apartment, determined he was intoxicated and arrested him, prosecutors said. Garcia later pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired and resigned from the NYPD.
This story has been updated with a comment from the NYPD.
Tagged
manhattan
nypd
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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