A cop from the 120th Precinct in Staten Island was busted on drunken driving charges, and three officers were placed on desk duty after they got into a car wreck with her while leaving their precinct’s holiday party, the Daily News has learned.
NYPD Officer Diana Todaro was busted at about 1:50 a.m. Friday after her fellow cops responded to a two-car wreck at Huguenot Ave. and Drumgoole Ave. West in Huguenot — more than 11 miles away from the precinct stationhouse.
Her three passengers, Officers Brandon Schneider, Melodie Muniz and Anthony Esposito, all of the 120th Precinct, were placed on modified duty after the early-morning smashup, an NYPD spokesman confirmed Monday. All three could face disciplinary charges, sources said.
“I was driving. I was coming from the holiday party, I had three or four drinks. My life is over,” Todaro told her arresting officer after she was pulled over in a black Nissan Altima, according to a criminal complaint.
Todaro’s Altima collided with a Chevrolet Volt, crushing the bumpers and damaging the lights on both vehicles, the complaint alleges. The impact was severe enough to activate Todaro’s airbags, and she suffered a bloody gash to her forehead, according to the complaint.
Schneider, Muniz and Esposito each have less than four years on the job, NYPD records show.
They could face disciplinary charges for allowing Todaro to drive or being unfit for duty themselves, according to NYPD Patrol Guide rules.
Todaro, 27, joined the force in 2023. She was charged with driving while intoxicated as a first offense and driving while impaired. She had been suspended and is due back in court Jan. 30.
The NYPD 120th Precinct stationhouse in Staten Island. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)
Todaro’s arrest was one of at least three busts of cops for drunken driving in the past four days, a period in which police holiday parties are held around the city.
Officer Jose DeJesus, assigned to the Warrant Section, was arrested Saturday at about 6:30 a.m. near Roosevelt St. and Targee St. in Grasmere after he crashed his red Kia into a parked, black Jeep Cherokee, court records show.
“I was following the GPS and I went straight, I was headed home, it told me to go straight,” DeJesus told cops at the scene, the records show.
Officer Sheikh Aktaruzzaman, 28, was arrested Friday at about 8:30 a.m. in the Soundview section of the Bronx on drunken driving charges.
Aktaruzzaman was dozing behind the wheel of his 2019 Chevy Camaro, the car still running and in neutral in the middle of the street, according to a criminal complaint.
“I was coming from a Christmas party,” he told the arresting officer, according to the complaint.