According to reports, Deputy Inspector Paul Zangrilli requested that the bar owner remove the incident’s video tape and made a cash offer to the taxi driver.
Prosecutors said that an inspector with the New York Police Department was charged after he allegedly tried to destroy video evidence showing his girlfriend driving his police car into a taxi while intoxicated and lied to investigators.
Leading a Manhattan police precinct, Deputy Inspector Paul Zangrilli is accused of trying to cover up the 2022 crash by doing a number of things, including as paying the taxi driver money and exchanging seats with his girlfriend after the incident.
Eric Franz, Zangrilli’s attorney, informed news organizations, including Gothamist, that his client is a well-respected inspector who is eager to “defend his good name” after Zangrilli entered a not guilty plea to all counts.
Manhattan prosecutors claim that one night in the summer of 2022, Zangrilli let his girlfriend to drive his unmarked police car, which she then smashed into a taxi. They had been out drinking for a few hours. Then, with Zangrilli still in the passenger seat, the woman drove off.
