Queens DA Tells Breezy Point Co-op to Hold Off on Tackling Criminal Investigation

June 22, 2015 — Loud house parties, heated arguments between neighbors: these are the issues that co-op boards typically field. Boards are charged with investigating such matters that affect the building and its residents and can issue fines or take away privileges, like access to amenities, for example. But some matters are far more serious for a board to handle. Just as it's important for boards to know when to take charge, it's vital for boards to know when to step back and let the authorities do what they have to do. Take the Breezy Point Cooperative, for example, whose board wanted to conduct its own investigation into a fatal car crash last month. DNAinfo reports that law enforcement officials have asked the co-op board to hold off and let them handle the police work. The crash, which took place May 31 crash on Rockaway Point Boulevard, "left 26-year-old Thomas Rorke dead and another man injured." A. J Smith, the co-ops chairman, conceded that issuing "somebody a fine for their behavior in the co-op is one thing, [but handling] a criminal investigation [is] bigger than [them]." So what does the co-op have to do with the car crash? Smith told DNAinfo that, "the moments before the crash were captured on surveillance video by one of the co-op's cameras overlooking the shopping center parking lot — and a copy of the footage was turned over to police by co-op security immediately following the crash." Smith and the co-op's security detail reportedly watched a copy of the video before turning it over to police. According to the article, a spokesman with the Queens District Attorney's office, Kevin Ryan, "confirmed that a board member called the person in charge of the investigation and 'requested information and evidence regarding the crash.'" That request was denied, Ryan confirmed, because it is, obviously, an active "NYPD/Queens D.A. investigation." No arrests have been made.