![]() ![]() This case history is the second in which Suffolk police protected off-duty officers from alcohol testing after they drove into crashes that caused serious, even life-threatening, injuries. An aide to the commissioner asserted that Harrison was legally barred from discussing the results of the department internal affairs investigation. Wustenhoff’s suspension covered 45 days, while Mascarella remained suspended as of Aug. Harrison suspended Mascarella and Wustenhoff without pay in February. Since then, Riordan’s parents, Kevin and Valerie Cavooris, have tried to discover what led Mascarella to drive into their car – as well as whether the Suffolk County Police Department had held him accountable.Ĭontacted by Newsday, the Cavoorises gave reporter David Schwartz copies of police documents obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Law request along with security camera recordings that captured a sequence of events starting moments before the crash and extending to police interactions with Mascarella.īased on Schwartz’s reporting, the Cavoorises learned for the first time that then-District Attorney Tim Sini had closed a criminal investigation without action that a second officer, Kevin Wustenhoff, falsely reported Mascarella had passed a breath test, according to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation and that county payroll records revealed Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Without that test, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was unable to determine whether Mascarella had been drinking before the crash – ruling out a possible vehicular assault prosecution. The police then failed to seek a warrant to test his blood alcohol level. Three hours after the crash, Officer David Mascarella refused to submit to a breath test. This case documents that Suffolk police shielded an off-duty officer from alcohol testing after he drove a pickup truck into the rear of a nearly stopped car at more than 50 mph, fracturing the skull of a 2-year-old and causing lasting injuries. The stories are tied by a common thread: Cloaked in secrecy by law, the systems for policing the police in both counties imposed little or no penalties on officers in cases involving serious injuries or deaths. Newsday today publishes the sixth in our series of case histories under the heading of Inside Internal Affairs. They have the dual missions of enforcing the law and of holding accountable those officers who engage in misconduct. ![]() Protecting and serving, the Nassau and Suffolk County police departments are key to the quality of life on the Island – as well as the quality of justice. Long Island’s two major police departments are among the largest local law enforcement agencies in the United States. “Riordan deserves answers because he was wronged,” Kevin Cavooris said. Credit: Jeffrey BasingerĪlmost two years after the crash he uses a leg brace to walk and is unable to run or jump. The Cavooris family at their home in Massachusetts in May. ![]()
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