An NYPD officer killed by an alleged drunk driver tried to run for his life before he was hit so hard that he was thrown of out of his uniform boots and his body was 'completely shattered'.
Officer Anastasios Tsakos, 43, and other officers were directing traffic away from a fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway in Queens in the early hours of Tuesday morning when they saw the maroon Volkswagon driven by Jessica Beauvais' hurtling toward them, a law enforcement source told the New York Daily News.
The officers ran for their lives, but Tsakos was struck by the car. The force of the impact threw his body nearly 200 feet onto a grassy median, and he was blown out of his knee-high police-issued work boots, the site reported.
The 14-year veteran suffered massive head injuries as he hit the grass median, and later died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Queens.
Tsakos' body 'completely shattered' Beauvais' windshield, yet she kept driving and passed multiple exits, Newsweek reported.
Responding officers finally caught up to the 32-year-old Long Island mother, who told police she knew she hit something but was unsure of what it was, according to court documents.
'I don't know why they stopped me, speeding I guess. I did hear a thump, so I knew I hit something, but I didn't see what it was,' Beauvais said, according to the documents.
On an officer's bodycam footage, Beauvai can be heard asking an officer, 'what did I do?'. Her blood alcohol content was nearly double the legal limit two hours after the incident.
Before the fatal crash, Beauvais posted a one-hour and 51 minute livestream on her Facebook page where she was seen downing tequila shots and drinking wine while the N.W.A song 'F**k Tha Police' played in the background.
Jessica Beauvais, 32, (left) of Hempstead is walked out of the 107th Precinct in Queens after allegedly striking and killing NYPD officer Anastasios Tsakos (right) on the Long Island Expressway
Investigators survey the vehicle that struck and killed New York City Police Department Officer Anastasios Tsakos
Beauvais is seen vaping (above) in the video where she addressed the trial of white ex-cop Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd and slammed police officers and the justice system in the video just hours before she allegedly struck and killed a cop
Tsakos, affectionately known as 'Tasso' was a married father of two small children. He is pictured with his wife Irene
Tsakos, affectionately as 'Tasso,' was a married father of a three-year-old son and six year-old daughter and recently moved to the East Northport neighborhood in Suffolk County last summer.
In interviews with ABC 7, his neighbors described him as family man: 'Family man, friendly as can be, and the most hardworking person you'd ever want to meet,' neighbor Moyra Bletsch told the New York City news station.
Another neighbor, Rosemarie Giacalone, told ABC 7, said Tsakos and his family helped them while they were quarantined.
'We had been quarantined a couple of months ago, the whole family, and he just called us, whatever we needed,' she said. 'He would drop off food for us. His wife cooked us soup.'
Tsakos' brother, Teddy, told ABC 7: 'He didn't deserve this. 'He just bought a house. He was doing good. Everything was cut short. That's it.'
NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos, 43, was killed by an alleged drunk driver while directing traffic. One of his neighbors told ABC 7 he was a 'Family man, friendly as can be, and the most hardworking person you'd ever want to meet'
Highway police drop off food at the Long Island home of Officer Tsakos
Relatives are pictured at the cop's Long Island home following his death when he was hit by an accused drunk driver. Tsakos brother, Teddy, told ABC 7, 'He didn't deserve this'. Family members are pictured consoling each other at his home
Neighbors gathered outside Tsakos's home on Wednesday. In interviews with ABC 7 , his neighbors described him as family man: 'Family man, friendly as can be, and the most hardworking person you'd ever want to meet'
A blue ribbon and an American flag were hung on a tree in front of Officer Tsaksos's Long Island home
A woman was seen coming down the steps of Jessica Beauvais's Long Island home on Wednesday as she languished in jail on suspicion of killing Anastasios Tsakos
Another unidentified woman was snapped blowing a kiss as she walked into Beauvais's home on Wednesday
Beauvais' home on Wednesday. She traveled to a recording studio to record a podcast shortly before Monday night's crash, which saw married dad of two Tsakos mown down and killed as he directed traffic around an earlier fatal crash
On the night of the crash, Beauvais filmed herself in a Facebook livestream as part of her Face the Reality radio show where she addressed the trial of white ex-cop Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, slammed police officers and the justice system, and played N.W.A song 'F**k Tha Police'.
In the nearly two-hour long livestream, she told her social media followers she likes guns because 'they're pretty' and ranted about being pro capital punishment, while she said 'potential death' is just 'part of the job' for cops.
Throughout the video, Beauvais is seen vaping and drinking an unknown dark liquid from a plastic cup and, at one point, washes down the contents of a red shot glass with a bottle of Snapple. Police sources claim she later confessed to guzzling vodka, wine and smoking weed before the deadly incident.
Hours later, Beauvais allegedly got behind the wheel of her Volkswagen and plowed into NYPD Highway Officer Tsakos on the Long Island Expressway in Queens around 2am Tuesday morning.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a joint press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio Tuesday that Beauvais was driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license when she allegedly sped away from the scene with a 'completely shattered' windshield before being stopped by police.
Sources told New York Daily News she was almost double the legal alcohol limit for driving - registering a 0.15 on a Breathalyzer test - and was slurring her words and unsteady on her feet when cops arrested her.
She allegedly fumed at the arresting officers, telling them: 'F**k you. I don't have to listen to you.'
Beauvais, who says she has a 13-year-old son in the video, later offered a tearful apology for Tsakos' death as she was led out of the NYPD's 107th Precinct in handcuffs on Tuesday afternoon. 'I'm sorry that I hit him and that he's dead,' she sobbed.
She now faces 13 charges including manslaughter in the second degree, aggravated manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting/death. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Suspected drunk driver Jessica Beauvais, 32, streamed herself on Facebook Live saying 'f**k the police' and downing shots hours before she allegedly struck and killed a veteran cop in a hit-and-run in New York City
Beauvais posted a 1 hour and 51 minute livestream on her Facebook page Monday evening. At one point, she washes down the contents of a red shot glass (above)
Just hours before the fatal encounter, at 6.37 pm Beauvais started her Facebook Live stream on her social media account under another name by talking about Chauvin's trial.
'This week we are going to talk about the ignorance that was the Derek Chauvin trial - or the ignorance that is essentially just is this f**ing justice system,' she says.
'Police say an oath and in that oath they say an oath that they are not supposed to be afraid of that position and that is literally in the rules.'
Chauvin was found guilty on all charges for the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd last year after he knelt on the black man's neck for more than nine minutes until he died.
Beauvais reads out part of an oath taken by members of law enforcement that they will 'enforce the law courteously, appropriately, without fear, malice or ill will' and questions how this had led to officers 'shooting and killing people on the streets.'
The 32-year-old then went on to say that police officers are 'signing up for potential death like in the army' and that it is 'part of the job' and that people 'might try to f**king kill you.'
Beauvais also claimed that if she ever had a fatal encounter with police, she would make sure she wasn't the only victim.
She told listeners: 'Like (hip hop group) NWA say about the police - if you're going to kill me, at least I get to take someone with me.
'I'm one of those people. If I'm going to go, someone is coming.'
Beauvais downs the contents of a red shot glass chasing it with a bottle of Snapple. Police said she was intoxicated while driving when she allegedly struck and killed Tsakos
Beauvais is wearing the same clothes in the footage as she was seen in both at the time of the crash and when she was being led out of the NYPD's 107th Precinct
In the footage, she also spoke about her love of 'weapons' comparing herself to the fictional DC character Harley Quinn and saying she always carries a knife.
'I'm for guns. I like guns. I like them - they're pretty,' she says at one point where she is having a discussion with a male off camera.
'Maybe I'm a little Harley Quinn on the brain. I like weapons. I carry a knife with me everywhere I go. That shit is normally on my hip but I got this thing here so I can't do that.
'I like weapons, because you're not going to try me. I got tried once in my life when I was very young and I didn't know no better. B**ch you're not going to try me again in my life as I fight n***as too.
'We can fight the police too. If you're going to shoot me, get it over with. What I'm saying is you're not going to try me while I'm still breathing.'
She went on to say a 'taser' is 'not cute like a gun' as she questions how a cop can confuse the two devices - in reference to the police killing of Daunte Wright by a white cop who allegedly mistook the two.
32-year-old Jessica Beauvais, of Hempstead, pictured in mug
'I know 13-year-olds from the hood that know a taser from a gun,' she says.
Beauvais says she is 'terrified' for her 13-year-old son 'don't f**king play with me.'
Beauvais goes on to say she doesn't 'believe in prisons' but believes in capital punishment saying 'hang that b**ch.'
'I don't even believe in prisons. I literally believe in the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. If you guilty, blow his head off,' she says.
'F**k is you here for. Why I gotta feed you? For what? Y'all killing us for less, on the streets, and in jails blow his head off ... you got certain states that want to hang people, hang that bitch.'
Speaking of her love of physical fighting, Beauvais continues: 'What happened to fighting, I grew up on fighting. I like to fight. My hands and my feet and teeth.
'It does something for me - what does it do for you? F**king people up never stopped being a thing. Shooting 'people is still wack. It means you can't fight. It means you're a cop.'
She signs off the footage saying: 'F**k the police. F**k them.'
Beauvais is wearing the same clothes in the footage - a pale blue crop top, navy pencil skirt and matching boots - as she was seen in both at the time of the crash and when she was being led out of the NYPD's 107th Precinct.
As she was led out of the precinct in handcuffs Tuesday afternoon for her arraignment, the 32-year-old struck a far more contrite tone when asked about the deadly crash.
Beauvais sobbed as she apologized for Tsakos' death saying: 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I hit him and now he's dead.'
It was a marked difference from her comments on her arrest when she told cops 'f**k you, I don't have to listen to you' and claimed she had only had one beer, an insider told Daily News.
She later told officers she had two glasses of wine before taking her son to Hempstead, then smoked a joint, downed two shots of 1800 Patron Tequila and drank a bottle of wine during her podcast, the criminal complaint states.
Hours after filming the footage, Beauvais (pictured in Facebook photos) allegedly got behind the wheel of her Volkswagen and plowed into Tsakos, 43, on the Long Island Expressway around 2am Tuesday morning
Jessica Beauvais, 32, faces 13 charges after allegedly striking NYPD police officer with her car on the Long island Expressway on Tuesday morning
Police say 32-year-old Jessica Beauvais was driving with a suspended license while intoxicated when she struck NYPD officer Anastasios Tsakos as he redirected traffic on the Long Island Expressway on Tuesday morning
Beauvais is seen arriving at Queens Central booking on Tuesday afternoon wearing the same clothes seen in the Facebook video
She was arraigned Tuesday night at Queens criminal court. Her family members were seen leaving the court without her as she was ordered to be held without bail
President of the Police Benevolent Association Patrick Lynch holds a press briefing outside of Queens Criminal court after her arraignment
According to the criminal complaint, Beauvais was speeding along the Long Island Expressway in her 2013 Volkswagen.
She allegedly ignored the traffic cones and the flashing lights of police cars set up to direct traffic away from another fatal crash scene.
Her vehicle swerved around other cars and struck Tsakos head on, throwing the officer 150 feet up into the air, reported the New York Post.
He landed on the grass by the side of the road while Beauvais sped off in her car, prosecutors say.
She passed several exits before coming off the expressway where she mounted a curb with her car, the complaint states.
As police officers surrounded her vehicle, the alleged drunk driver reversed into a police car behind her in an effort to flee again, prosecutors say.
Beauvais claimed not to have known she had hit a person, the complaint states.
In video capturing her arrest, Beauvais looked distraught as she was handcuffed by police officers in front of a patrol car.
She was arraigned Tuesday night at Queens criminal court.
Her family members were seen leaving the court without her as she was ordered to be held without bail. She will next appear in court on April 30.
President of the Police Benevolent Association Patrick Lynch held a press briefing outside of the court after her arraignment where he hit out at her apology saying: 'She's sorry not for the deed but that she got caught.'
Photos of her car show the front windshield smashed and the bonnet caved in from where the car struck the officer.
It is not clear what speed she was driving at at the time but Shea said he believes the damage done to her car shows 'there was no way she didn't know that she had struck an individual.'
The police chief and mayor visited Tsako's home in East Northport, Long Island, to meet his grieving wife Irene, six-year-old daughter, and three-year-old son.
'The pain she is going through, there is no words for,' de Blasio said.
'A few hours ago she was looking forward to seeing her husband again and now she won't. (His children) will never see their father again because someone did the wrong thing. Here is a good man who won't be home.'
Officer Tsakos, 43, was redirecting traffic away from another fatal car crash (pictured) when he was hit. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead
Police are seen arresting Jessica Beauvais, 32, after she allegedly mowed down Tsakos and then tried to flee the scene just after 2am Tuesday
Described as a 'highly regarded officer', Tsakos was a 14-year veteran of the NYPD.
'We stand here this morning reminded once again, in law enforcement, there is no such thing as a routine job,' Shea said.
'We stand here devastated and trying to pick up the pieces of what is a shattered home and a shattered NYPD family.'
The commissioner called the accident a 'senseless and completely avoidable chain of events'.
Tsakos and other officers were on the scene on the Long Island Expressway redirecting traffic from a car that crashed into a utility pole, killing one passenger.
That was when Beauvais' car swerved to avoid hitting other vehicles, striking Tsakos who was standing in the roadway next to his patrol car head-on.
Police said Beauvais was driving despite having her license suspended in August 2019 for failing to pay for DMV fees.
She had previously been arrested on the same charge in 2015 and had her license suspended at least two more times.
She has also been charged with speeding and using a cellphone while driving in the past, reported Daily News.
Mayor de Blasio said the fatal crash that Tsakos was called to also involved a driver with a suspended license.
Jonathan Espinal, 24, was driving a blue 2012 Infiniti G37X sedan along the expressway when it plowed into a utility pole on an exit ramp around 12:30 am.
Espinal and two passengers were both pulled from the burning vehicle. One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Espinal was charged with driving with a suspended New York driver's license and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
'We see here a horrible pattern, people doing the wrong thing and other people dead because of it, and one of them a hero officer,' de Blasio said, after holding a minute's silence in honor of the officer killed in the line of duty.
'[Tsakos] did everything right in his life for us and he is dead because of other people's negligence.'
He described the incident as 'a very, very painful moment'.
'He did everything right in his life for us and he is dead because of other people's negligence,' Mayor Bill de Blasio said of Officer Tsakos at a press conference on Tuesday morning
Police said Beauvais was driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license. After striking Tsakos she allegedly fled from the scene before being apprehended by police
Tsakos had been called to the scene of another crash in which one passenger was killed after the car struck a utility pole (pictured)
Beauvais is walked into Queens Central booking on Tuesday afternoon as she faces
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