Three Officers Fired in DWI Crash

N E W  Y O R K, Aug. 10 -- A police officer accused of driving drunk and killing three people — including a pregnant woman — pleaded not guilty today to manslaughter charges. Three officers who allegedly spent the day drinking with him were fired.

New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik announced the firings after a hearing today for Officer Joseph Gray, who allegedly ran a red light on his way to work, killing 24-year-old Maria Herrera, her 4-year-old son Andy, and her 16-year-old sister Dilca Pena.

Herrera's child, a boy, was delivered by Caesarean section but did not survive. The baby, who was named Dorian, lived just eight hours. He was buried with his mother on Thursday.

Kerik said two of the officers, John Welsh and Craig Hildebrand, were with Gray at an off-limits strip club near the 72nd Precinct stationhouse in Brooklyn. They were on probation and could be fired at Kerik's discretion because they had been on the force less than two years.

The third officer, Edward Sills, is accused of drinking with Gray in a police parking lot. Kerik said Sills was on disciplinary probation for a previous DWI incident.

In addition, Kerik announced sweeping changes in the staffing of midnightshifts at all precincts and said any officer on disciplinary probation willbe removed and placed in a shift with more supervisors. Kerik also said he is looking at how the department investigates alcohol-related incidents involving its officers.

‘This Is Not Justice’

The three officers were among the 14 other officers linked with Gray who were suspended or reassigned earlier this week in a police department shakeup after last Saturday's crash. But their punishment did little to ease the pain of the relatives of the accident victims.

They were also dismayed that Gray was released on $250,000 bail.

"This is not justice," said Herrera's husband, Victor. "I think he was not supposed to get bail. He was supposed to get locked up there and feel alone and feel what I'm feeling."