Teen accused of fatal crash into Yonkers cop Frank Gualdino to be be prosecuted in juvenile court

May 2024 · 2 minute read

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The New York teen driver accused of fatally crashing his BMW into a police sergeant’s car will be prosecuted in juvenile court, authorities said Thursday.

The unidentified Yonkers boy was unlicensed when he plowed his out-of-control sports car into the police vehicle of Yonkers Detective Sgt. Frank Gualdino, cops said.

His case was moved to family court in Westchester County on Wednesday due to a state law passed in 2017 that raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18.

“After careful review of case law and the Raise the Age legislation we did not have a legal basis to seek that the case remain in criminal court,” the Westchester District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

He was indicted on criminally negligent homicide last month.

However, because the defendant is a minor, the case was shuffled from the youth part of criminal court to the family court system in accordance with the state law, Yonkers police said in a statement Thursday.

“We are hopeful that despite the change in venue, appropriate justice will be delivered for all involved,” the police department said.

Assistant District Attorney Nadine Nagler said in court Wednesday that while the teen’s conduct was “egregious,” prosecutors could not provide enough factors to keep the case in criminal court, The Journal News reported.

The teen was 16 at the time of the crash. He recently turned 17, the newspaper reported.

The latest judicial move came two days before the first anniversary of the crash that killed the 24-year Yonkers police vet.

The teen allegedly drove his BMW M5 Competition into oncoming traffic on a Yonkers street before smacking into Gualdino’s unmarked police car and a Bee-Line bus on Dec. 1, 2022, authorities have said.

The 53-year-old succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

New York’s Raise the Age law dictates that 16- and 17-year-olds charged with certain felonies can be moved to family court 30 days after they are charged unless there are “extraordinary circumstances” that would keep the case in the criminal division.

The law was passed by state lawmakers and signed off by then governor Andrew Cuomo in 2017. 

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