Conclusion of Review of Tuckahoe Police Department’s Response to Aug. 14 Car Accident Involving a Former Police Chief’s Wife
September 22, 2026
White Plains, NY -- On Aug. 17, 2026, the Tuckahoe Police Department referred the handling of its investigation into a motor vehicle accident that occurred in Tuckahoe on Aug. 14, 2026, to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for independent review. The accident involved Donna Costanzo, wife of retired Tuckahoe Police Chief John Costanzo.
The primary focus of the review was to determine whether the actions and conduct of the Tuckahoe police officers who responded to the scene and investigated the incident constituted criminal conduct under the New York State Penal Law.
A comprehensive review conducted by our Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Bureau included investigators and Assistant District Attorneys examining police body-worn camera footage and area surveillance footage; interviewing officers from the Tuckahoe Police Department and Yonkers Police Department; and interviewing civilian eyewitnesses who were present or near the scene, including the driver of an Amazon delivery truck that was struck in the Tuckahoe incident.
Our review found that Mrs. Costanzo was allegedly operating a black Infiniti sedan in Yonkers when she struck a parked vehicle on Falmouth Road at approximately 2:53 p.m. and left the scene. Approximately 17 minutes later, she allegedly struck another vehicle in a parking lot on Central Avenue in Yonkers and left the scene. About five minutes after that, she allegedly struck an Amazon delivery truck that was legally parked near the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Main Street in Tuckahoe.
Following the Yonkers incidents, the Yonkers Police Department notified the Tuckahoe Police Department of the alleged hit-and-runs and requested that Tuckahoe police officers be on the lookout for Mrs. Costanzo’s vehicle.
Two Tuckahoe police officers responded to the accident scene; however, the available body-worn camera footage is limited.
A review of Motorola data found that one officer appeared to deactivate their body-worn camera moments after approaching Mrs. Costanzo, who was seated in the driver’s seat of her vehicle, although the officer denied doing so. The other officer’s body-worn camera ceased recording approximately one-minute and 45 seconds after arriving to the scene, with records provided by Motorola confirming that its battery had died.
A Tuckahoe detective and an off-duty lieutenant also responded to the scene. The lieutenant arrived after Mrs. Costanzo had left and did not interact with her.
Although our review of witness testimony found that Mrs. Costanzo exhibited signs that could be consistent with intoxication, neither the responding officers nor civilian witnesses reported detecting an odor of alcohol on her breath or observed other definitive signs of intoxication.
Additionally, none of the Tuckahoe police officers who responded to the scene investigated whether Mrs. Costanzo was impaired or otherwise evaluated her sobriety. Our review further found that the department did not document a reason for not undertaking an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
Instead, one of the responding officers stated during our review that he knew Mrs. Costanzo was the wife of the former Tuckahoe Police Chief and drove her home following the accident.
Following the comprehensive review detailed above, our office determined that all of the available evidence that was accumulated is insufficient to establish provable criminal conduct by any one of the Tuckahoe police officers involved in the incident and, therefore, does not establish probable cause required to support the filing of criminal charges.
We have relayed these findings to Tuckahoe Police Chief Larry Rotta and referred this matter back to his police department for internal investigation.
Although not the primary focus of this review, our office recommended that the Tuckahoe Police Department modify its body-worn camera policy to make clear that officers must keep their body-worn cameras activated upon responding to a motor vehicle accident and until the individual involved has been cleared of any potential criminal wrongdoing.
Notably, the Yonkers Police Department has filed two charges for Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident against Mrs. Costanzo pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 600(1)(a), for the accidents in the City of Yonkers, currently pending in the Yonkers City Court.
We urge all law enforcement agencies in Westchester County to ensure that their officers’ conduct is consistent with their obligation to protect public safety, regardless of the circumstances or individuals involved.
In the interest of full transparency, our office is releasing all known body-worn camera footage recorded after Tuckahoe officers arrived on the scene of the Tuckahoe accident, which was collected as part of this review. The footage is available for public viewing. Click the video below to watch.