NYPD sergeant with 18 years on job kills driver in wrong-way, head-on crash on NY highway: cops

An off-duty NYPD sergeant driving the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway fatally struck another motorist in a head-on Westchester County crash late Thursday, according to police.

Sgt. Tiffany Howell, 47 – an 18-year department veteran – was behind the wheel of a 2021 Infiniti heading south in the northbound lanes of the Taconic State Parkway around 11:40 p.m. when she slammed directly into a 2024 Toyota, according to State Police.

The Toyota driver, 61-year-old Peekskill resident Manuel Boitel, was rushed to Westchester Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Sgt. Tiffany Howell, 47, was driving her Infiniti the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway when she allegedly slammed into 61-year-old Toyota driver Manuel Boitel, killing him, cops said. FNTV

Howell, who lives in Warwick, was taken to the same hospital with non-life threatening injuries, cops said.

Charges were not immediately filed. Investigators are awaiting a toxicology report, law enforcement sources said.

Howell has since been placed on modified duty, according to the NYPD.

Online records show that Howell joined the NYPD in January of 2008, achieving the rank of detective in 2021 and sergeant in 2022. 

Howell, an 18-year-department veteran, was placed on modified duty within the NYPD. FNTV

She was assigned to her latest post, within the Youth Strategies Division, this past July, according to the records. 

Howell was awarded for “excellent policy duty” in both July and October of 2014, according to the records.