Attorney General Letitia James releases footage of fatal crash involving off-duty Suffolk cop

New York State Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday released security camera footage from her office’s ongoing investigation into a June crash involving an off-duty Suffolk police officer that killed an East Patchogue man.

Shortly after 10 p.m. on June 12 in North Patchogue, Hilton Spokony, 45, was a passenger in a southbound 2023 Kia Forte attempting a left turn from Waverly Avenue onto Buckley Road in North Patchogue, Suffolk police said after the crash.

Off-duty Suffolk police officer Michael Aulivola, traveling north in a 2016 Dodge Ram on Waverly Avenue, collided with the Kia, according to police.

Aulivola, 55, of Holtsville, and the driver of the Kia, Meredith Hill, 79, of East Patchogue, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Spokony was transported to NYU-Langone Hospital-Suffolk in Patchogue where medical staff pronounced him dead

The security footage captured several angles of the crash. On one, late-evening traffic appears light as a dark-colored sedan comes into view, its left rear blinker flashing as it slows at a green light. Two vehicles heading in the opposite direction pass the car in the moments before it attempts a left turn left and is struck on the right-front passenger door by a large white pickup truck.

The force of the collision sends both vehicles off the road and onto what appears to be a grassy area just off the intersection, according to other footage, which includes audio capturing the loud bang caused by the collision. Another angle shows the collision and a person who appears to be the driver of the pickup, climbing out with a flashlight and shining it on the sedan.

James’ office has not announced if its investigation will result in criminal charges. The attorney general’s office investigates every instance in which a police officer, correction officer or other law-enforcement official may have caused a death. Under New York State law, the AG’s office launches an investigation, regardless if the officer is on duty or off-duty.

James said in a statement that her office released the video to "increase transparency and strengthen public trust in these matters."