NYPD officers charged with allegedly covering up colleague's drunk-driving crash

NEW YORK - Two NYPD officers have been charged with allegedly covering up a fellow officer's drunk-driving car crash in 2024.

NYPD officers charged with tampering with evidence

What we know:

Officers Michael Caligiuri and Ryan McLoughlin were arrested at 7:45 a.m. earlier today, Feb. 20.

The pair have been charged with tampering with public records, tampering with physical evidence, falsifying business records and two counts of official misconduct.

"The defendants allegedly went to great lengths to protect a fellow officer from accountability," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. "This type of conduct significantly harms public trust in law enforcement. Everyone must be treated the same under the law, regardless of their position or background."

The backstory:

The two officers allegedly responded to a 911 call regarding a car crash involving a driver under the influence at West 26th Street and 8th Avenue on Oct. 16, 2024.

The driver of the vehicle, Eli Garcia, reportedly struggled to provide his license and registration, but did show Caligiuri an NYPD identification card.

Caligiuri allegedly never questioned Garcia about his supposedly intoxicated state and repositioned his body camera to not entirely capture the interaction.

He and McLoughlin then allegedly began communicating "almost exclusively" through text messages on their personal phones, according to the district attorney.

Shortly after, Garcia drove away from the scene; the officers allegedly made no attempt to stop him from leaving.

On Dec. 2, 2024, Garcia pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired (DWAI). He later resigned from the NYPD.

What they're saying:

FOX 5 NY's Hayley Fixler reports that Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry says the two officers are innocent.

"These are two hard-working New York City police officers," Hendry said. "Their reputations are being tarnished by this district attorney's office because of assumptions… not what they actually did."