Eileen Raymond shuffled to her front door, bleary-eyed, on a Saturday morning after returning from an overseas trip the day before.
A police officer stood in front of her bungalow in Canton, ready to deliver a message that is every parent’s worst nightmare.
Raymond’s 45-year-old son was involved in a traffic accident in the Hudson Valley the night before near the village of Millbrook. He was riding his motorcycle on a two-lane highway when a New York state trooper responding to an emergency call hit him.
The trooper, Cody Vetter, walked away from the October 2016 accident with his life. Raymond's son, Warren Corbitt, did not.
Corbitt is one of 29 people killed in New York motor vehicle accidents involving police officers since 2015. Other civilians have been severely injured and lost the ability to work after crashes with police. Yet, few of the officers face internal discipline, according to an investigation from the USA TODAY Network-New York and Syracuse University, with support from The Central Current.
“There was no way of dealing with that coming at you like that,” Raymond said. “It leaves a hole that you never quite recover from.”
Eight months after the crash that killed Corbitt, the New York Attorney General’s Office released a report clearing the trooper of any criminal wrongdoing, calling the crash a “tragic accident for which no criminal charges are warranted.”
It is unknown if Cody Vetter faced internal discipline related to this collision. He is still employed as a state trooper, and has been involved in two more accidents since the 2016 crash, according to documents obtained by the USA TODAY Network-New York from the New York State Police.
The Attorney General’s Office is required to act as a special prosecutor when police officers are involved, either by an act or omission, in the deaths of civilians, including ones who died in motor vehicle accidents.
You can see a map of all the police-involved fatal car crashes that the Attorney General's Office investigated since 2015 farther down in this story.
An "act" is the direct action of an officer — for example, an officer shooting and killing a civilian. An “omission” could mean neglect, such as an incarcerated person asking for medical care and a corrections officer denying them.
The system, put into effect by executive order in 2015, was intended to provide another layer of police accountability in New York.
The executive order stayed in effect until April 1, 2021, when the Office of Special Investigations was created via Section 70-B of the New York State Executive Law. It operates inside the Attorney General’s Office, and is responsible for overseeing the investigations.
We looked into the attorney general’s investigation process and found that, while giving the public an inside look at how officers are investigated after a civilian death, it is constrained by state law that often allows officers to avoid severe consequences for actions that killed civilians or contributed to their death.
If you've been involved in a car crash with a police vehicle, we'd love to hear from you. Fill out our online form or scan the QR code in print and a USA Today Network reporter may reach out to you about your story.
How do these investigations work?
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the office serves as an impartial third-party investigator into these accidents.
“The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation conducts an exhaustive review of the facts and evidence of each case and works as swiftly as possible to provide the transparency and accountability that New Yorkers deserve,” the spokesperson said.
When a police-involved death occurs, the office conducts a preliminary investigation of the case to determine whether the officer caused the death.
Sometimes, a preliminary assessment does not result in a full investigation. For example, if a death occurs during a high-speed chase, that accident may not be considered an officer-involved death and may not be investigated.
Under state law, full attorney general investigations may cover on- and off-duty officers and civilians who are armed and unarmed. The office also prosecutes any criminal offense that the officer may have committed in connection with the incident.
If OSI decides it cannot prosecute the officer at the end of its full investigation, it will issue a public report closing the case. If OSI decides it can prosecute, it will present the case to a grand jury. From there, the grand jury decides whether charges are filed against the officer.
The Attorney General's Office said families of civilians who died or were injured may be involved in the investigation if they want.
Since its creation, the office has expanded and brought new resources to its investigation structure, including “family liaisons,” a program that has existed since at least April 2021.
These liaisons serve as representatives for families throughout the investigation, helping them navigate a complicated process.They keep families updated about developments in the investigation and provide them with access to services such as grief counseling.
Still, there are family members, like Raymond, who said the investigation process appears to rubber-stamp the officer's conduct.
“The OSI understands and does not take lightly that in these cases, even an indictment and conviction is by no means a happy outcome,” the Attorney General's Office said. “The only real justice would be if a family’s loved one were still alive.”
At the end of each report, the Attorney General's Office usually suggests ways to prevent such accidents from happening again, and may follow up on those suggestions with the police department. These suggestions, however, are not legally binding for the police department.
“We could check back in, and they could tell us to get lost, right? These are not binding recommendations,” a spokesperson said.
28 crashes, 29 fatalities, two officers charged
Since July 2015, the Attorney General’s Office has investigated 28 incidents in which a police officer was involved in a motor vehicle accident resulting in a civilian fatality. Officials have completed 14 investigations that resulted in no charges (including two separate reports for two people who died in one crash). Two crash investigations resulted in charges against the officers involved, and the remaining 13 crash investigations are incomplete.
One of the two cases in which charges were filed against an officer happened in late 2020 on Interstate 87 in Ulster County.
New York State Trooper Christopher Baldner twice rammed the back of Tristan Goods’ car during a pursuit. The second time, the car flipped, throwing Goods’ 12-year-old daughter, Monica, from the vehicle and killing her.
The Attorney General's Office shortly after announced charges against Baldner, including charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and first-degree reckless endangerment. In February 2023, Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds dropped the charge of murder because the state could not prove Baldner acted with "depraved indifference to human life," according to reporting by the Times Herald-Record. The attorney general soon appealed that ruling. Court records in the case are now sealed, according to court personnel.
The other case in which charges were filed happened in April 2023, on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. Off-duty NYPD Officer Tyler Paul was speeding in his personal vehicle when he struck and killed Kawan Edwards, a highway construction worker.
In March of this year, Paul was indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter, second- and third-degree assault, criminally negligent homicide and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
Joseph O’Connor, the attorney representing the family of Monica Goods, said for charges to be filed, officers must show “reckless disregard” for the safety of others.
O’Connor also represents the family of Sabeeh Alalkawi, who was killed in February 2023 after his car was hit by a Troy police officer who was speeding down a city street at 88 mph while responding to an emergency call, according to an investigation by the New York State Police.
O'Connor explained why charges are so rarely filed against officers in motor vehicle accidents — in his view, the attorney general may be reluctant to charge officers who, in emergency situations, make split-second decisions in response to other vehicles on the road.
“The police do have a duty to respond and operate in emergency conditions,” O’Connor said.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office reiterated that the office is only able to investigate within the bounds of state law, and confirmed the burden for charges against a police officer is incredibly high.
“It’s not like a normal civilian. … We’re not protected in the same way that a member of law enforcement is,” they said.
After Eileen Raymond, Corbitt’s mother, did an initial interview for the investigation into her son’s death, she said she was not updated about its progress and felt she was treated like a nuisance when she pushed for more information.
When the office ultimately concluded Vetter committed no wrongdoing, Raymond lost hope anyone would be held accountable for her son's death.
“We’ve got to have a better system for dealing with this kind of thing,” she said.
Why wasn’t state trooper at fault for crash that killed Corbitt?
On Oct. 14, 2016, at 7:50 p.m., police in the village of Millbrook requested backup from State Police to help arrest a man who drew a knife at a high school football game, according to the attorney general’s report. Three state troopers initially responded to the call.
At the same time, Corbitt and another civilian drove northbound on Route 82. When the civilian driver of the other vehicle heard the officers’ sirens, she pulled over to the right side of the road, according to the report. Corbitt, riding a motorcycle, instead moved left to the center of the roadway near the double yellow line.
Corbitt should have pulled over to the right, the report notes. The three troopers who responded first passed both vehicles without incident.
Trooper Cody Vetter, who joined the emergency response later, soon came flying down Route 82. The other civilian driver, who witnessed the crash, said she noticed a fourth police vehicle — Vetter’s — "approaching rapidly, with its emergency siren and lights activated,” according to the report.
At the accident scene, the posted speed limit was 55 miles per hour. One second before the accident, Vetter’s vehicle was traveling at 90 miles per hour, according to the report.
Vetter passed the witness' vehicle, then collided with Corbitt. The report said at the moment of impact, Corbitt was pulling over to the middle of the road while Vetter attempted to pass him on the left.
Vetter tried to brake and swerve immediately before the collision. After the crash, both Vetter and the witness exited their vehicles to aid Corbitt, the report said.
Vetter immediately radioed his colleagues about the accident and requested a supervisor and medical personnel. Edward Bownas, chief of the Millbrook Fire Department at the time, responded to the scene and soon confirmed Corbitt was dead.
The attorney general’s report cleared Vetter and declared the crash a tragic accident. The report cited Vetter's attempt to steer out of the way and Corbitt's failure to yield the right of way as crucial evidence for Vetter’s innocence.
Since the report’s release, Raymond found it challenging to come to terms with the investigation’s labeling of the crash as a “tragic accident.”
“I do not agree that it was just a tragic accident,” she said. “Warren did nothing wrong, and this cop did.”
Corbitt was a graphic designer working in New York City at the time of his death. He was “a very talented visual artist” and a hard worker, his mom said.
After the collision, Corbitt's former customers and clients reached out to Raymond to express their sorrow.
“He really made a big dent in the business market in New York City for being a young artist with a very small business. … A lot of people were impacted by his passing,” she said.
Families sue after investigations clear officers of responsibility
Other families who’ve lost loved ones in police vehicle crashes have turned to lawsuits or media attention to express their discontent after accident investigations absolve officers of responsibility.
“I don’t know if they’re on the street now, I don’t know what they’re doing … but they get to go home to their brother; I don’t get to go home to my brother,” Julie Floyd said during a press conference after her brother, Ronald Anthony Smith, was struck and killed by a New York City Police Department inmate transport van in Brooklyn in 2022.
The Attorney General’s Office released its investigation on the accident May 2023, saying neither officer — one was driving and one was a passenger — would be charged, adding that it could not prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that either had committed a crime.
Neither Floyd nor her attorney could be reached for comment on this story.
The AG's Office reached a similar conclusion in a 2019 case involving Susan Harrington of Argyle. According to OSI's report, Washington County sheriff’s Deputy Cori Winch fell asleep at the wheel while returning to the station to finish his overnight shift. His vehicle crossed the double yellow line, colliding head-on with a car driven by Harrington, the report stated.
The crash killed her instantly.
The AG's report said while Winch should have recognized that he might fall asleep while driving, the “failure to perceive a risk in itself does not give rise to criminal liability.”
More simply, because Winch did not mean to fall asleep, he couldn't be held criminally liable for the accident. The AG's Office declined to recommend charges against him.
In a lawsuit filed against Washington County, Harrington’s wife, Joyce Paul, blamed the accident solely on Winch, saying Harrington was “caused to sustain certain serious injuries, excruciating pain and suffering, pre-impact terror and substantial damages, all of which ultimately resulted in her death,” the lawsuit claimed.
Correspondence between the USA TODAY Network-New York and the Washington County Attorney’s Office indicates the case was settled. Paul and her attorney declined to comment for this story.
Many people decline to bring lawsuits against police after the investigations conclude, either because they are satisfied with the outcome or because suing police departments is an uphill battle.
For Eileen Raymond, some closure has came from telling her son’s story and describing its effect on her and her family.
In the years following her son's death, she made a point to ensure local police officers know what happened and understand the risks that come with driving recklessly on the job.
She'd often approach cops in public to tell them her story about what happens when police choose to drive recklessly.
And she would say, "I hope that you will never be somebody who does that."
Tell us your story
Have you or your family members had an experience being hit by a police officer on the road? We'd love to hear from you. Fill out the form below and a reporter may be in contact with you for details.
Editor's note:Eileen Raymond, Warren Corbitt's mother, died at home in December 2023.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the Attorney General's Office found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in New York State Trooper Cody Vetter's case, and that Joseph O'Connor was expressing an opinion about the Attorney General's investigative process.
Evan Butow is a student police accountability reporter with the Driving Force project. He recently graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, majoring in Magazine, News and Digital Journalism. Reach him at Ebutow@gannett.com.
This story is part of Driving Force, a police accountability project meant to expose and document the prevalence of police vehicle accidents in New York.
This joint investigation between USA TODAY Network-New York and Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications was supported with funding from the Data-Driven Reporting Project. That project is funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University-Medill.
This reporting was completed in partnership with The Central Current, a Syracuse-based nonprofit newsroom.
Reporters, visual journalists, editors, designers and project partners include Maria Birnell, Evan Butow, Kayla Canne, Daniel DeLoach, Jamie Germano, Anna Ginelli, Jon Glass, Seth Harrison, Nausheen Husain, Hayden Kim, Chris Libonati, Finn Lincoln, Beryl Lipton, Tina MacIntyre-Yee, Laura Nichols, Peter Pietrangelo, William Ramsey, David Robinson, Kyle Slagle, Eden Stratton, Sarah Taddeo, Jodi Upton and Marili Vaca.
