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Off-Duty NYPD Officer Arrested After Alleged Drunken Crash into Tiffany's Fifth Avenue Storefront

By DNAinfo Staff on February 15, 2010 10:30am  | Updated on February 15, 2010 10:24am

An off-duty NYPD officer was charged with drunk driving after an 3 a.m. Sunday car crash into Tiffany's storefront.
An off-duty NYPD officer was charged with drunk driving after an 3 a.m. Sunday car crash into Tiffany's storefront.
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By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — An off-duty NYPD officer crashed his car into Tiffany's Fifth Avenue storefront early Saturday morning in an alleged drunk driving accident.

Officer Raphael Ospina, 27, was charged with vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated after his Chrysler 300 sedan crashed into the high-end jeweler after clipping a garbage truck as he headed eastbound on E. 57th Street at roughly 3 a.m. Saturday, police said.

His car then jumped the curb and hit Tiffany's, police said.

Ospina and two passengers were taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries.

Apart from a few scuffs and dents, the facade of the store remained intact and a Tiffany's spokesperson said the damage was "negligible," the New York Times reported.

Ospina faces a 30-day suspension from his post at the 25th Precinct in East Harlem, according to the Times.

The officer, who joined the NYPD in 2004, has a reputation as a party guy, according to the News.

In an interview with the paper, Ospina's brother, Daniel, said the officer had probably driven drunk before.

"I'm sure he has," he said. "He must have. I don't know for a fact."