A city cop from Jamaica was arrested on Friday and booked at the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill, where he was charged with manslaughter and other crimes for a fatal collision last April.
NYPD Officer Paul Tyler, 24, was arraigned hours later in Queens Supreme Court on an indictment charging him with manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide for allegedly striking a highway construction worker on the Grand Central Parkway on the morning of Apr. 26, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced.
The indictment alleges that Tyler was off-duty and driving his personal vehicle at a high rate of speed when he made a lane change from left to right without signaling. While driving between lanes, he struck a vehicle in the right lane, according to the indictment. The collision caused Tylerto lose control of his vehicle, which then skidded at a high speed and struck and killed Kawan Edwards, 36, who was working as a contractor for the Department of Transportation on the shoulder of the highway. EMS transported Edwards to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Pursuant to New York Executive Law Section 70-b, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer may have caused the death of a person while on-duty or off-duty.
Officer Paul was off-duty from his job as a quartermaster at the 32nd Precinct in Harlem at the time. He was arraigned before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis who set bail at a $200,000 bond, or a partially secured bond, with a $100,000 cash alternative. Officer Paul was ordered to return to court on May 1. The maximum sentence on the top charge is an indeterminate sentence of 5-15 years in prison, according to the AG’s office.
