By Chris Fuchs
An off-duty Department of Corrections officer at Rikers Island was arrested early Thursday morning for allegedly driving while impaired from alcohol after he was in an accident on the Whitestone Expressway that killed the driver of a tractor-trailer.
Capt. William Kolessars, 42, of Westchester, and the truck driver who was killed, Andres Rodriguez, 67, of Nassau County, were both traveling north on the Whitestone Expressway around 3:40 a.m. when the accident occurred, said Detective Madelyne Galindo, a police spokeswoman.
As the two approached the Whitestone Expressway near Seventh Avenue, Kolessars cut off Rodriguez, who swerved to the right of the roadway to avoid being hit, the police said. The tractor-trailer then struck the guardrail, the police said, plunging into a roadside embankment.
Rodriguez, who was trapped in the tractor-trailer, was later removed but was pronounced dead on the scene, the police said.
Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office, said Kolessars was charged with driving while impaired but not with causing the death of Rodriguez.
According to a complaint filed by the district attorney's office, Kolessars had a blood alcohol content of .09, just below the .10 threshold for being considered legally intoxicated, de Bourbon said. Kolessars was released without bail, de Bourbon said. His next court date is Feb. 15.
John Mahon, a spokesman for the city Department of Corrections, said Kolessars is a captain at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island and a 19-year veteran of the force. After the district attorney's office brought charges against Kolessars, the Department of Corrections suspended him without pay, he said, at least until the investigation is closed.
Mahon said the Department of Corrections would not bring internal charges against Kolessars because he was off-duty at the time of the accident.
“Kolessars had worked the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift, and the accident happened later on,” Mahon said. “It wasn't during his hours of working.”
The first police officer to arrive at the accident from Highway Patrol 3 said he saw Kolessars walking away from a 1993 Eagle Vision that appeared to have recently been in an accident, the complaint said. The complaint said the officer saw Kolessars standing on the expressway and when he approached him, Kolessars told him that the tractor-trailer, a 1999 International Box Truck, had struck him first.
The officer also said he smelled an odor of alcohol on Kolessars'? breath, the complaint said.
The police arrested Kolessars and took him to the 112th Precinct, where he was given a Breathalyzer test, the complaint said.
In a phone interview from his home in Westchester, Kolessars declined to discuss the accident, other than to say he was confident the charge would be dropped.
“It wasn't my fault,” he said. “This is the first time in my career that I've ever been in trouble.”
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
