Greenburgh, NY : 46-year-old off-duty NYPD detective killed in a wrong-way crash on the Sprain Brook Parkway early Friday, February 27, 2015

Hartsdale resident Paul Duncan, a detective in the New York Police Department, was killed early Friday morning when a wrong-way driver on the Sprain Brook Parkway crashed into his car.

Duncan, 46, lived with his wife Rechelle and their daughter. He was a 17-year member of the NYPD and served on the Internal Affairs Bureau's narcotics team.

"He was a wonderful father," Rechelle Duncan's sister, Raquel Abraham, said outside of the family's Chaucer Street home on Friday. "He really was a decent man."

Paul and Rechelle Duncan were high school sweethearts who recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, Abraham said. She added that he was looking forward to retiring soon and starting a business for at-risk individuals.

"He was always trying to help folks," said Jeffrey Streeter, Rechelle Duncan's uncle. "He just wanted to try to make a difference in his community. It's a rough pill to swallow."

Members of the NYPD are assisting Duncan's family and Greenburgh police have also offered their help, said Supervisor Paul Feiner.

State Trooper Melissa McMorris, a state police spokeswoman, identified the wrong-way driver as 20-year-old Efren Moreano of Yonkers. He was at Westchester Medical Center in a medically induced coma.

The crash occurred just south of Route 100B. McMorris said Moreano's 2013 Honda Civic was traveling north in the southbound lanes. Duncan was southbound in a 2011 Honda Pilot.

Feiner said the crash again illustrates the need for more patrols on that roadway.

"It's not the first fatalities on the Sprain and it won't be the last," he said. "It's one of the most dangerous roads in the county."

He called on state police to step up enforcement, possibly by using funds from a surcharge on traffic tickets.

McMorris said the Hudson Valley Transportation Management Center was notified of the wrong-way driver at 3:52 a.m. Troopers from the Hawthorne barracks were immediately dispatched. Five minutes later, she said, a trooper came upon the crash scene.

Anyone with information is asked to Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 914-769-2600.

The incident caused heavy delays from Interstate 287, about 3 miles north. All lanes reopened just before 9 a.m., about five hours after the crash.

At the scene, the Pilot could be seen off the road on the shoulder facing the wrong direction and the Civic was perpendicular to the roadway.

Source :
Off-duty NYPD detective killed in head-on crash with wrong-way vehicle on parkway