Upstate New York prosecutor ‘truly sorry’ for insulting cop who tried to ticket him for speeding

WEBSTER, New York — An upstate New York prosecutor apologized Monday after police video showed her cursing at an officer who tried to give her a speeding ticket and telling him to “get away.” go “.

“Last Monday, I failed to meet your expectations and the standards to which I hold myself, and I am truly sorry,” Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Dooley said, referring to the April 22 incident during where an officer in the Rochester suburb of Webster attempted to pull her over for driving 20 mph (32 km/h) over the speed limit, but she refused to stop.

Body camera footage released Friday by Webster police shows a tense confrontation between Doorley and Officer Cameron Crisafulli in her garage, where she was driving instead of stopping.

“I’m the prosecutor,” Doorley said in the video. “I was going to be 55 when I got home from work.”

The officer then told her she was going 55 mph (88 km/h) in a 35 mph (56 km/h) zone. Doorley responded, “I don’t care.”

When Crisafulli asked if she heard his siren when he tried to stop her, she replied: “No, actually I didn’t. I was on the phone.”

Instead of cooperating with Crisafulli’s orders to stay near his vehicle, Doorley called his boss, Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier, and said, “Can you please tell him to leave me alone?” ?

She then handed the officer her cell phone and said, “Would you like to speak to Dennis?” It’s ridiculous.”

After that, she told the officer to “get out of my house,” using a swear word, and said, “I have nothing to do with you right now.” »

After the video was released, Governor Kathy Hochul asked the State Prosecuting Commission to review the incident.

“Earlier today, I referred the Monroe County District Attorney to the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct following the release of police body camera footage showing her claiming she was above the law , attempting to use his public office to avoid responsibility and acting unprofessionally towards a police officer. he’s just trying to do his job,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

In her apology video, Doorley said she accepted she was speeding and would pay the fine.

She said she would also submit the case to another unnamed county’s prosecutor for review and would undergo ethics training “to remind me that professionalism matters.”

Doorley has served as Monroe County’s prosecutor since 2012. She was first elected as a Democrat, but changed her registration to Republican in 2015.

Doorley said in the video that she had a tough day at work dealing with three homicides and that her husband received some frightening medical news.

“But we all have bad days and stress, and it was wrong for me to pick on an officer who was just doing his job,” Doorley said.

“I was humiliated by my own stupidity,” she concluded.