On Monday night, a New York radio host streamed herself on Facebook asserting “F*** the police,” then only hours later allegedly drove her Volkswagen, although she had a suspended license, into a NYPD highway officer who was redirecting traffic, killing him, before she reportedly sped away and was later apprehended. Police say her blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.
On her “Face the Reality” radio show, Jessica Beauvais, 32, posted a nearly two-hour Facebook stream in which she spoke of the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, saying, “This week we are going to talk about the ignorance that was the Derek Chauvin trial — or the ignorance that is essentially just is this f***ing justice system,” and played the song “F**k Tha Police,” by N.W. A. She added, “Like NWA say about the police – if you’re going to kill me, at least I get to take someone with me. I’m one of those people. If I’m going to go, someone is coming.”
“Throughout the video, Beauvais is seen vaping and drinking an unknown dark liquid from a plastic cup and, at one point, washes down the contents of a red shot glass with a bottle of Snapple,” the Daily Mail reported. “Police sources claim she later confessed to guzzling vodka before the deadly accident.”
“What happened to fighting?” she asked, according to the outlet. “I grew up on fighting. I like to fight. My hands and my feet and teeth. It does something for me — what does it do for you? F***ing people up never stopped being a thing. Shooting people is still wack. It means you can’t fight. It means you’re a cop.”
After signing off around 2 a.m. by saying, “F*** the police. F*** them,” Beauvais drove onto the Long Island Expressway, according to the criminal complaint, where Anastasios Tsakos, 43, was redirecting traffic after a separate fatal car accident.
“Tsakos was in full reflective gear, next to a marked police car with flashing lights and a series of cones,” ABC 7 reported. “Authorities say she blew a .15 BAC, nearly double the legal limit, more than two hours after the incident.”
According to court documents, Beauvais stated, “I did hear a thump, so I knew I hit something but I didn’t see what it was.”
Beauvais allegedly struck Tsakos, the father of two children, a three-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. He was reportedly sent 100 feet in the air and landed in the grass at the side of the road. He was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Beauvais’ windshield was reportedly “completely shattered.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told the press that Beauvais was driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license.
“I think that when you see the images of [Beauvais’] car and the windshield that is completely shattered, as well as damage to the front of the car, there is no way to not know that you struck an individual,” he said, as the New York Post reported.
She reportedly passed multiple exits on the expressway, eventually driving onto a curb. According to prosecutors, when police surrounded the vehicle, she allegedly backed into a police car in an attempt to get away.
“When finally arrested, the agitated suspect ranted and swore at the cops taking her into custody for vehicular manslaughter, DWI and driving with a suspended license in the tragic death of Tsakos, police said. ‘F— you,’ a source quoted her telling the arresting officers. ‘I don’t have to listen to you,'” the New York Daily News reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, as she was exiting NYPD’s 107th Precinct in handcuffs, Beauvais stated, “I’m sorry that I hit him and that he’s dead.”
Patrick Lynch, the President of the Police Benevolent Association, angrily told the press, “She’s sorry not for the deed but that she got caught.”
She faces up to 15 years in prison. Among the 13 charges brought against her are second degree manslaughter, second degree vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting a death.
Tsakos’ brother Teddy told ABC 7, “He didn’t deserve this. He just bought a house. He was starting his life. He was doing good. Everything was cut short. That’s it.”
Shea concluded, “We stand here this morning reminded once again, in law enforcement, there is no such thing as a routine job. We stand here devastated and trying to pick up the pieces of what is a shattered home and a shattered NYPD family.”