Truck driver testifies about witnessing LIE crash that killed NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos

A truck driver who witnessed the 2021 crash that took the life of NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos testified Monday that he saw the car driven by an alleged drunken driver strike the highway cop on the LIE in Queens and catapult him more than 150 feet.

In sometimes emotional testimony in Queens State Supreme Court, Daniel Miller, 46, who works for a New Jersey trucking company, described how on the night of April 27, 2021, he was preparing to exit the expressway eastbound at Exit 26 when he noticed a dark sedan to his left “flying by me, moving really fast, kind of driving erratically” and doing about 60 mph.

An instant later, Miller testified, the car, which prosecutors said was driven by Jessica Beauvais of Hempstead, made an abrupt right-hand turn from a left Long Island Expressway lane and struck Tsakos, of East Northport, who was standing by a police car stationed to divert all eastbound traffic due to a previous accident east at Exit 27.

Beauvais, 34, is on trial before Judge Michael Aloise on charges of vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene of the accident, as well as driving with a suspended license. She faces up to 15 years in prison on the top charge of second-degree aggravated manslaughter, as well as other possible sentences added on for the other offenses.

Miller said he was on the road about 1:55 a.m. making deliveries to stops in Queens and Great Neck when he saw the collision that sent Tsakos “flying through the air.”

After pulling off the highway at the exit ramp, Miller said he ran over to the broken body of Tsakos and quickly realized the situation was fatal.

Tsakos, a married father of two, “was in very bad shape, face down, one of his legs was missing. He obviously looked like he was passed,” recalled Miller, under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Gregory Lasak Jr.

A police body camera video played at the trial depicted Miller rushing over to Tsakos and then trying to console the officer’s partner, Det. Eric Cassidy.

“I am here for you, until someone else comes; breathe, breathe,” Miller remembered telling a distraught Cassidy. Miller then turned his truck in the service road so that no cars would run over Tsakos’ severed lower left leg.

Another prosecution witness, NYPD Det. Kevin Long, had taken pictures of Beauvais’ damaged vehicle. Photos submitted at the trial showed a sedan with a missing front bumper, shattered windshield, crumpled trunk and damaged roof.

NYPD Det. Kenneth Gallart, who was present at the earlier accident on the LIE, testified Monday that Tsakos and Cassidy had gone back to set up a roadblock at Exit 26 to stop all traffic. After about 10 minutes, Gallart said, there was frantic call on a police radio from Cassidy that “Tsakos is down, stop that car, stop that car!”

Gallart said he and a sergeant then went on a high-speed chase of Beauvais down the eastbound expressway. At one point Beauvais’ vehicle exited and continued a speedy drive through residential and commercial areas off the Horace Harding Expressway, at one point driving the wrong way on Bell Boulevard, Gallart said. Eventually, Beauvais stopped her car near 221-22 Horace Harding Expy. and was taken into custody.

Gallart said Beauvais showed signs of being intoxicated and her car smelled of marijuana.

The trial continues Tuesday and the prosecution could wrap up next Monday.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.