Incident

Incident Description

On June 8, 2023, Buffalo Police officers pursued a stolen vehicle. The driver stopped the vehicle and fled on foot, leaving it in neutral. The vehicle rolled backward and struck a patrol car belonging to the responding officers.

When officer Justin Ayala arrived, he observed the stolen vehicle against the patrol car. He instructed several officers on scene to turn off their body-worn cameras, requested keys to the patrol car, and moved the patrol car so it was no longer in contact with the vehicle.

Because the stolen vehicle remained in neutral, it rolled backward again, striking the patrol car a second time and another nearby vehicle.

Internal Investigation

During BPD’s internal investigation, officer Ayala stated he moved the patrol car to check for damage and because the vehicle would eventually be towed. He claimed he did not know accident investigators would be notified and denied attempting to conceal the accident. He also admitted that he asked officers to turn off their body-worn cameras “to make jokes.”

Findings

• Officer Ayala interfered with the investigation of a city-involved accident.

• Officer Ayala violated the body-worn camera policy by instructing officers to turn off their cameras.

Officer Ayala was found in violation of:

• Chapter I, Section 1.1 (BPD Rules & Regulations)

• Chapter III, Sections 3.2(a) and/or 3.2(b) (BPD Rules & Regulations)

• BPD Body-Worn Camera Policy

On February 2, 2024, the Department served formal charges against Officer Ayala for the above violations. He pled guilty and accepted a one-day suspension as disciplinary action to resolve the charges.

The New York State Office of the Attorney General concured with BPD's conclusion that Officer Ayala committed misconduct by interfering with the accident investigation and violating BPD’s body-worn camera policy.