Former NYPD officer pleads guilty to causing fatal crash by impersonating a cop while driving drunk

A former NYPD officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing a Lindenhurst man who was riding with him in what authorities called a drunken rave at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour in Valley Stream.

Aaron Cooper, 26, who was fired from the city police department in January 2023 for pulling his gun during a road rage incident, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Pablo Rivera, as well as to drunken driving charges. and criminal impersonation in the second degree.

Cooper, a Marine Reservist, was showing off his new sports car when he lost control of his 2023 Toyota Supra around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 10; Meanwhile, it rocketed eastwards from the westbound lanes of Rosedale Road, crossing the double yellow lines and crushing the car. The car hit a utility pole and a tree before flipping the car onto the street grass, according to authorities.

Officials said Rivera died at the scene.

Prosecutors said the Supra’s data recorder measured Cooper’s speed at 109 mph seconds before the crash.

He told Nassau County police officers that he had encountered the accident and was trying to help Rivera, prosecutors said. He also told police that he was still a police officer despite being fired.

“This defendant twice attempted to deny his involvement to authorities, first by telling authorities that he stopped to help after witnessing the crash, and then by telling authorities that he was in the car but was not driving,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. he said. “And when he was terminated from the NYPD in 2023, Cooper attempted to pose as an active military member to curry favor afterward.”

First responders took Cooper, also of Lindenhurst, to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital for broken ribs. A blood test revealed that the alcohol content in his blood was high. One hour after the crash he was 16%, twice the legal intoxication limit.

Donnelly said he faces a sentence of four to nine years under the plea bargain agreement, although prosecutors had sought a sentence of seven to 12 years.

Cooper is expected to appear in court again for sentencing on January 6, 2025.