Police ID Officer Killed In Westchester Crash, Fault Teen Driver

YONKERS, NY — Yonkers officials identified the officer killed Thursday and said their preliminary investigation suggested the crash was caused by a reckless 16-year-old with a learner's permit driving a sports car.

The teenage driver, who police said who slid into the unmarked police car and pushed it into a bus on Tuckahoe Road, is hospitalized in intensive care with severe injuries.

Sgt. Frank Gualdino was a 24-year-veteran of the city's police department.

"It's a severely sad day for us," said Mayor Mike Spano at a morning news conference. "Yonkers is a very close-knit community and yesterday we lost someone who was a friend, a sergeant, a decorated officer, a good family man, head of a prestigious unit, somebody that was very, very well respected by the police officers of this department and the people that he served."

He offered condolences to Gualdino's wife Lisa and children Emily and Mark.

"We also know there is a 16-year-old fighting for his life right now who oughtn't to have been on the road," Spano said.

The crash took place at 3:30 p.m. on the bridge over the Sprain Brook Parkway. It involved a 2020 BMW M5, an unmarked Yonkers police 2012 Chevrolet Impala, and a Westchester County Bee-Line bus. Both sedans were occupied only by the operators; the bus had about 30 passengers.

The operators of the two cars suffered devastating blunt force injuries to their heads and bodies and were transported to local area trauma centers in critical life-threatening condition. The bus driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and several bus passengers were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Gualdino was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital. His body was taken from the hospital overnight in a solemn procession of police and other officials.

Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza said "preliminary investigation revealed the suspect vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed slid across the double yellow line on Tuckahoe Road and into oncoming traffic. "

He played a video police had recovered at the scene from another car on the bridge, which showed a car sliding out of control.

Gualdino, 53, was a traffic unit supervisor. Hired in 1998, "he was due to retire this August, in nine months," the commissioner said. "He was a personal friend, he was a credit to the community and this is a tragic, tragic loss for us."

Gualdino was recognized by city officials last month for coming to the rescue of a 3-year-old boy who lost consciousness during a funeral procession. The funeral, of a former Westchester County Department of Corrections officer, was accompanied by officers from the department. Gualdino broke away from the funeral detail and rushed the child to a hospital in his car. In a letter sent to Yonkers police, the officer's son thanked Gualdino and others for their aid and compassion "on a very difficult day."

"In Yonkers we have 620 officers, we all know each other and we all knew Frank. He was a cop's cop ... Frank was the go-to guy," the commissioner said.

Yesterday afternoon, Gualdino was likely out checking on the units on patrol in the traffic division, the commissioner said.

"You have a 16-year-old with a learner's permit, without a driver's license, driving at a very high rate of speed in a very fast car. He was in a BMW M5 which is an extremely fast sports car," the commissioner said. "There could be other factors involved and we're going to investigate everything."

Reckless driving now tops the list of probable causes, but the investigation is continuing, including the potential for criminal charges.

"We're going to look at all camera footage — from the businesses, from other vehicles, from the bus," the commissioner said. "It's important to note the video you watched is showing a segment from the scene from a citizen's vehicle."

Asked about traffic on Tuckahoe Road, the commissioner said it like most of the east-west crossings in the city are routinely congested.

"Someone darting around, finding that one opening, gunning the gas pedal to get around traffic, cutting someone off — it's almost difficult to get into that kind of trouble driving on that road," he said. "This isn't a routine traffic accident. This is a 16-year-old kid driving recklessly and as a result someone has died."

The car is owned by a Yonkers resident related to the teenager, who had had a learner's permit for about two weeks and is a student at a local private school, police said. They would not give more information about the driver or the owner, saying the investigation was still active.

Additional information may be released as it becomes available.

"For what it's worth, in addition to the loss of a tremendous officer there's also a family that has a 16-year-old fighting for life in intensive care," Spano said. "We were all 16 once, we all have teenagers in our families, we know when we teeter on that edge, telling our kids over and over 'watch what you do' and 'drive slow.' This is a real tragedy for a lot of people."