YONKERS, NY — After a nearly 11-month investigation, a 16-year-old Yonkers resident faces criminal charges in connection with a crash that resulted in the death of Det. Sgt. Frank Gualdino of the Yonkers Police Department, authorities announced on Monday. He was charged with criminally negligent homicide.
The fatal incident occurred on Dec. 1, 2022, around 3:30 p.m. Yonkers police were dispatched to a multi-vehicle collision on the Sprain Brook Parkway overpass on Tuckahoe Road. The crash involved a Westchester County Bee-Line bus, a 2020 BMW M5, and an unmarked 2012 Chevrolet Impala police vehicle. Gualdino, the driver of the Impala, later died from his injuries at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
The 16-year-old driver of the BMW was also hospitalized in critical condition following the collision. A preliminary investigation revealed that the teen had lost control of his vehicle while driving at a high speed, veering into the opposite lane and striking both the Impala and the bus. At the time of the accident, the young driver was in possession of a learner’s permit, obtained just three weeks prior, rather than a full driver’s license, according to police.
The investigation into the crash was exhaustive, spanning nearly a year. Authorities have now formally charged the teen, whose name has not been released due to his age, as a result of their findings. The announcement came from the Yonkers Police Department on Oct. 30, almost 11 months after the tragic event.