Former Police Officer Charged in White Plains Hit and Run
A former New Rochelle and New Castle police officer was arrested Thursday morning and charged with three felony counts for allegedly tampering with evidence after seriously injuring two people in a hit-and-run accident.
Raymond Beckley, 25, of Valhalla, appeared in White Plains City Court on charges of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and two counts of tampering with physical evidence stemming from a hit-and-run, all class E felonies, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
On Nov. 13, 2016, Beckley allegedly hit two pedestrians with his Ford F-350 pickup truck on Hale Avenue in White Plains, just hours after he resigned as a New Rochelle police officer.
Law enforcement officials said Beckley was aware he hit the pedestrians but fled the scene leaving the bleeding victims in the street suffering from head trauma and broken bones. While White Plains police detectives actively investigated the case in search of his truck, officials said Beckley had the truck’s front end repaired to conceal the damage, then drove the vehicle out of state.
The day after the incident, Beckley began working as a New Castle police officer, a job he resigned from in January 2017.
The investigation into Beckley’s arrest was a collaborative effort between the White Plains Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Investigations Division Public Integrity Bureau.
“Upholding public integrity and prosecuting those who flaunt it is a high priority in this Office,” Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. said in a statement. “We commend the White Plains Police Department for their investigation into this crime with our Investigations Division Public Integrity Bureau. A police officer in any jurisdiction needs to be held to the high standards for which he is sworn to uphold. Those who were injured deserve justice.”
Beckley was arraigned in White Plains City Court and released on $5,000 bail. He is due to return to court on Aug. 17.
