NYPD cop killed in crash with wrong-way driver
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — A New York Police Department detective was killed early Friday when a wrong-way driver crashed into his car on a highway here.
Paul Duncan, 46, lived with his wife, Rechelle, and their daughter in Hartsdale. He was a 17-year member of the NYPD and served on the Internal Affairs Bureau's narcotics team.
"He was a wonderful father," Rechelle Duncan's sister, Raquel Abraham, said outside of the family's home Friday. "He really was a decent man."
Paul and Rechelle Duncan were high school sweethearts who recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, Abraham said. She added that he was looking forward to retiring soon and starting a business for at-risk individuals.
"He was always trying to help folks," said Jeffrey Streeter, Rechelle Duncan's uncle. "He just wanted to try to make a difference in his community. It's a rough pill to swallow."
Members of the NYPD are assisting Duncan's family and Greenburgh police have also offered their help, Supervisor Paul Feiner said.
State Trooper Melissa McMorris, a state police spokeswoman, identified the wrong-way driver as Efren Moreano, 20, of Yonkers. He was at Westchester Medical Center in a medically induced coma.
The crash occurred on the Sprain Brook Parkway just south of Route 100B. McMorris said Moreano's 2013 Honda Civic was traveling north in the southbound lanes. Duncan was southbound in a 2011 Honda Pilot.
Feiner said the crash again illustrates the need for more patrols on that roadway.
"It's not the first fatality on the Sprain and it won't be the last," he said. "It's one of the most dangerous roads in the county."
He called on state police to step up enforcement, possibly by using funds from a surcharge on traffic tickets.
McMorris said the Hudson Valley Transportation Management Center was notified of the wrong-way driver at 3:52 a.m. ET. Troopers were immediately dispatched. Five minutes later, she said, a trooper came upon the crash scene.
At the scene, the Pilot could be seen off the road on the shoulder facing the wrong direction and the Civic was perpendicular to the roadway.