Off-duty Nassau police officer who fatally struck Teresa Gucciardo, 85, in Commack with vehicle should not be charged, New York AG says

An off-duty Nassau County police officer who struck a pedestrian in Commack in 2022 with his vehicle will not face charges in her death, Attorney General Letitia James’ office said Tuesday.

Investigators said the officer was not speeding "or otherwise driving recklessly" when he turned his personal pickup into a Michaels shopping center parking lot at about 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2022, and struck Teresa Gucciardo, 85, of Mineola.

Gucciardo died four weeks later on Dec. 22 from her injuries and medical complications, according to the attorney general’s office. Because she did not die immediately after the collision, state officials said, Suffolk County police did not do a full investigation or notify the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigations, or OSI, which investigates all police-related fatalities. State officials said they were notified a year later.

"Nevertheless, after conducting its own investigation, OSI does not find reason to believe that the officer was speeding or otherwise driving recklessly, or intoxicated, and for that reason concludes that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (he) committed a crime," the attorney general’s office said in a report released Tuesday.

Surveillance footage shows the officer’s truck "slowly roll" into Gucciardo as he was turning in the parking lot, causing her to fall. The officer initially told detectives he "heard a thud" as he was turning, then saw the woman on the ground and called 911, according to the report.

Suffolk police said "there was no reasonable cause to believe that a crime had been committed," according to the attorney general's report. 

The officer, who has served since 2008, declined, through his PBA attorney, to give a written statement to Suffolk police or give an interview to state investigators, state officials said.

The woman was treated at the scene by paramedics for a head injury and a broken ankle. She lost consciousness in the ambulance and had to be intubated, according to the report. She was later treated for a traumatic brain injury and underwent two surgeries for her ankle before she died in the hospital from multiple injuries. Her death was ruled an accident by medical examiners.

The attorney general’s office also found "Ms. Gucciardo, although injured, was seemingly not struck with sufficient force to cause her to be thrown clear of the pickup."

The officer did not show any signs of intoxication, but the attorney general’s office recommended that Suffolk police should give breath tests to "officers involved in collisions consistently and in close proximity" to the time of a collision.

Gucciardo’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2023 against the officer and the shopping center in Commack, which is still pending.

Attorneys for Gucciardo and the officer could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.