Attorney General James’ Office of Special Investigation Releases Report on Death of Tanja Foster

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Tanja Foster, who died on November 20, 2024 following a motor vehicle incident involving members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn. Following a thorough investigation, which included review of footage from body-worn cameras and multiple security cameras, interviews with the driving officer, witness officers, and civilian witnesses, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI determined that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the driving officer committed a crime, and therefore criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.

Shortly after 6 p.m. on November 20, Ms. Foster was walking north along the double yellow line separating the northbound and southbound lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn. At 6:07 p.m., for a reason that remains unclear, Ms. Foster fell in the roadway. Shortly after Ms. Foster’s fall, an unmarked NYPD vehicle responding to a call for assistance ran over Ms. Foster, who was still lying in the middle of the road. Ms. Foster was transferred to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

In New York, proving criminally negligent homicide requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a person caused a death when they failed to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death would occur; that the failure to perceive the risk was a gross deviation from a reasonable person’s standard of care; and that the person engaged in blameworthy conduct. In this case, although the police car was traveling about 20 MPH above the posted speed limit, speeding by itself is not a legally sufficient action to charge a person with Criminally Negligent Homicide. There is no evidence that the officer who was driving the vehicle was intoxicated or otherwise distracted. The evidence indicates that Ms. Foster was already lying in the middle of the roadway as the officer approached. It was night, and although Pennsylvania Avenue has streetlights and the vehicle’s headlights were on, a person lying in the middle of the road would not necessarily have been visible to the average driver at a distance sufficient for the driver to avoid a collision. 

In this case, the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s conduct was a gross deviation from the standard that would have been observed by a reasonable person in the same circumstances. Therefore, OSI concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.