Retired NYPD Officer, a Yonkers Resident, Indicted in Fatal DWI Crash

Retired NYPD Off. Jorge Hernaiz, 44, of Yonkers, was indicted Thursday in connection with drunken driving crash where he struck 34-year-old pedestrian Marino Nunez who later died from his injuries.

According to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, the incident occurred during the overnight hours of May 31 of this year, as Hernaiz was exiting the Henry Hudson Parkway onto West 254th Street and Broadway in Riverdale.

Nunez, a father of two, was critically injured at the scene and died two days later from his injuries.

Hernaiz was arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court and pled not guilty before Justice George Villegas. He is charged with:

• Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (Class B Felony)
• Vehicular Manslaughter in the 1st Degree (Class C Felony)
• Vehicular Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (Class D Felony)
• Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol (2 counts; Unclassified Misdemeanor)
• Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated (Unclassified Misdemeanor)
• Reckless Driving (Unclassified Misdemeanor)
• Resisting Arrest (Class A Misdemeanor)

If convicted on the top counts, Hernaiz faces up to 25 years in prison. He had been an officer in the 43rd Precinct for 14 years and retired in 2008.

“It was approximately 3 o’clock on that Sunday morning in May when Jorge Hernaiz was driving home, allegedly telling investigators he had spent a night shooting pool and drinking a bottle of vodka as well as a bottle of Colt 45,” according to Johnson. “Further according to the Criminal Complaint, he admitted having exited the southbound Henry Hudson Parkway at Broadway, and at the end of the ramp, where there is a stop sign, and hitting his victim. He is alleged to have told police, ’I felt that I hit something and I stopped my car.’ Witnesses allegedly saw him trying to pull his victim’s motionless body from beneath his car; they called 911.”

Hernaiz remained at the scene, where ambulances were called not only for his victim, but also for him, Johnson said.

“Once in an ambulance to be checked out after exhibiting what police believed to be signs of a panic attack, it is further alleged it took five officers to put the combative 6-foot, approximately 250-pound ex-cop into handcuffs,” according to Johnson.

Hernaiz’s blood alcohol content was measured at .25 percent, more than three times the legal limit, according to prosecutors, and a nearly empty 16-oz. vodka bottle was found in his car.

Hernaiz is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 26, 2016.