A former NYPD detective who was busted for drunk driving and accidentally shooting his partner in Queens earlier this year pleaded guilty to the incident and was sentenced to undergo an intensive alcohol safety program, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Jay Poggi, 57, a Long Island resident who, according to police, was a member of Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct, pleaded guilty Friday in Queens Criminal court to assault and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors said.
In addition to the 12-week program, as a condition of his plea, Poggi must complete an awareness program for first-time DWI offenders, called a Victim Impact Panel, install an ignition interlock device on any vehicles registered to him and pay a $500 fine. His driver’s license has also been suspended.
In the early morning hours of April 24, Poggi was showing the hammer of his Smith and Wesson revolver to his partner, Det. Matthew Sullivan, when the gun went off, striking his partner in the right wrist, court records said. Poggi then drove Sullivan to Jamaica Hospital in their unmarked police car.
At the hospital, Poggi was observed with bloodshot eyes and was given a field sobriety test, which registered above the legal limit, at .113 percent, prosecutors said. He later refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills.
Poggi and his partner were supposedly on their way to conduct a robbery investigation in the Rockaways when Poggi accidentally fired the weapon, the New York Daily News reported. They were caught on camera drinking that night at The Wharf Bar & Restaurant in Rockaway Park.
In May, Poggi was terminated from the department following a recommendation from the Office of the NYPD Trial Commissioner.
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