Angry cops filled a Queens courtroom on Tuesday ahead of a trial for a drunk, hit-and-run driving suspect accused of killing an NYPD highway officer in 2021 as he directed traffic along the Long Island Expressway.
Prosecutors said Jessica Beauvais ignored traffic cones and flashing lights before striking Anastasios Tsakos, a 14-year veteran who was directing traffic along a stretch of the expressway in Queens, with her Volkswagen Passat.
With her windshield smashed, she sped away from the crash but was arrested a mile away — where she ranted and swore at cops as they took her into custody, officials said.
Hours earlier, Beauvais had been on a podcast condemning cops in the wake of guilty verdicts against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd.
“Decisions have consequences,” said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry. “And because of her poor decisions, our hero officer will never be able to go home to his family. This individual shouldn’t be able to go home to her family.”
Hendry spoke ahead of opening arguments at Queens Criminal Court, where prosecutors re-created the deadly chain of events that cost Tsakos his life on a warm spring Tuesday morning.
Tsakos and his partner had responded to the scene of a deadly car accident along the Long Island Expressway.
While they were redirecting traffic and protecting the scene, Beauvais barreled through with such force that his body was flung into the air, coming to rest 100 feet away in a grassy shoulder.
One of his legs was severed.
“They arrived at that scene and to protect,” Assistant District Attorney Greg Lasak said in his opening argument. “To protect his fellow police officers investigating the scene, Officer Tsakos and his partner had to set up a roadblock. They broke down the road, with their lights on and shut down the highway.
“When they shut down that highway, for 10 minutes, car after car after car saw their vehicle, saw those cones, moved over to the right and exited that highway. Car after car filed off that highway. Except for one.
Lasak said Beauvais had no regard for human life.
“No reaction. Didn’t respond, didn’t slow down, didn’t get to the right. As if he wasn’t even there.”
Compounding the crime, according to cops, was her admission that she had smoked weed and drank wine and tequila in the hours leading up to the crash. She said she was on her way to pick up her son.
Hours earlier, she hosted an expletive-laden podcast which opened with music from NWA’s classic rap tune “F— tha Police.”
“What bothered me is that we had to go through a trial to prove that George Floyd didn’t f—ing kill himself,” Beauvais said during the podcast, which she posted on Facebook. “If you were afraid for your life, go be a secretary at Walmart. Do us all a favor. Go open up a day care. But please stop hitting us with the bulls— excuse that you felt threatened about something.”
During the video of the podcast, Beauvais is seen vaping and drinking alternately from a bottle with a Snapple label and from a small red cup.
Charges against her include a DWI, vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.
Her driver’s license was suspended for failure to pay a Driver Responsibility Assessment after a speeding conviction, according to a source. Beauvais’ driving record includes infractions that date back to 2012, including driving without a registration and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
The car she was driving had 25 violations dating back to mid-2018.
“It’s going to be incredibly difficult for our hero officer’s family and our police officers sitting in that courtroom reliving their worst nightmare because this individual made horrible choices,” Hendry said.
Tsakos is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter.