Two New York Police Department officers are under scrutiny after allegedly allowing a suspect to escape following a 911 call reporting a drunk SUV driver involved in a crash. The incident took a surprising turn when the officers discovered the suspect was an off-duty police officer himself, according to charges filed by Manhattan prosecutors on Friday.
The officers, Michael Caligiuri, 31, and Ryan McLoughlin, 30, faced a five-count indictment unveiled during their arraignment in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Both officers entered not guilty pleas to charges including tampering with physical evidence and public records, falsifying records, and official misconduct.
Prosecutors allege the officers arrived at the crash scene on West 26th Street, near Eighth Avenue, on the night of October 16, 2024. The victim, whose identity remains undisclosed in court documents, reportedly informed McLoughlin that Officer Eli Garcia was intoxicated and had collided his white Infiniti SUV with the victim’s car.
The court documents describe the victim’s account of Garcia displaying his police badge after the minor collision in Chelsea. Garcia allegedly had “droopy” eyes and difficulty locating his insurance card, with an NYPD parking placard visible on his SUV’s dashboard.
Caligiuri, residing in Long Beach, Long Island, reportedly refrained from questioning Garcia about alcohol consumption and deliberately positioned his body-worn camera to avoid recording their interaction, as stated by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Furthermore, both officers, including McLoughlin, who hails from Suffern, Long Island, were reported to have communicated via text on their personal phones at the scene, a conversation that went undetected by their body cameras.
“Idk what to do,” McLoughlin texted his colleague, prosecutors allege.
“It[‘]s bad man,” Caligiuri replied, with McLoughlin suggesting in response that he could hold his body-cam for him.
Caligiuri slid his body-cam off his chest and passed it to McLoughlin, who positioned it in such a way as to make it look like Caligiuri remained standing next to him. In reality, Caligiuri walked away so his voice wouldn’t be captured as he called a supervising lieutenant, according to prosecutors.
A short while later, Garcia fled the scene, forgetting his license, prosecutors say. McLoughlin and Caligiuri waved their flashlights but allegedly made no meaningful effort to stop the drunk driver from getting back on the road, nor did they report the hit-and-run over their police radios.
Garcia was arrested a few hours later when an NYPD duty captain made a home visit and found him still drunk and his car illegally parked in the crosswalk, according to court documents.
Garcia pleaded guilty in December 2024 to driving while impaired and was sentenced to a conditional discharge and around $1,500 in fines and restitution. His license was suspended for just 90 days, and he quit his job on the force.
In court Friday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office provided the two cops an opportunity to dodge a criminal record for the alleged coverup and letting a drunk driver back on the road.
Prosecutors offered them a deal to plead to tampering with physical evidence, an E felony, plus two misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, in exchange for a three-year conditional discharge.
In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson said the Police Department initiated the probe into the officers and referred it to the DA for prosecution.
However, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry, who was among more than a dozen NYPD members who packed the courtroom Friday in solidarity with McLoughlin and Caligiuri, said the police union would back the cops in their fight against the charges. He criticized the DA as pro-crime and anti-cop after the proceeding.
“What you saw today is another overreach by Alvin Bragg,” Hendry said. “Every day he wakes up, instead of thinking about protecting New Yorkers, he’s thinking of ways about going after police officers. His office is more concerned about arresting police officers than prosecuting criminals.
“This case was resolved a year ago and the person that was involved was arrested, was prosecuted.”
In a statement, Bragg said the two cops were being treated the same as anyone who comes before his office.
“The defendants allegedly went to great lengths to protect a fellow officer from accountability,” the DA said. “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.”
With Thomas Tracy
