John Bonds Colonie Officer Crash Report: OSI No-Charge Finding Still Leaves Testing And Discipline Receipts

BadPD source-check, June 21, 2026; source date June 4, 2026: The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation released its report on the death of John Bonds, who died after being struck by a car driven by an off-duty Town of Colonie Police Department officer in Latham, Albany County.

OSI’s legal conclusion is narrow and important: the office says a prosecutor could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the involved officer committed a crime, so criminal charges are not warranted. BadPD is not publishing this as a claim that the officer committed a crime.

It is still a public-records story. The report describes an off-duty officer, alcohol in the officer’s system, multiple initial chemical-test refusals, later breath and blood results, limits on retrograde BAC analysis, and a fatal pedestrian crash. Those facts leave accountability questions that are not answered by a no-charge conclusion.

What OSI Says Happened

According to the AG release and OSI report, Bonds was walking while pushing a shopping cart in the southbound lane of Old Loudon Road shortly after 10 p.m. on May 27, 2025. OSI says off-duty Colonie Patrol Officer Jason Tusch was driving south in a 2011 Honda Accord when he struck Bonds. Bonds died at Albany Medical Center on June 2, 2025.

OSI says fixed security cameras captured the incident and that OSI reviewed fixed-camera footage, bus-camera footage, body-worn camera footage from responding officers, New York State Police reports, witness statements, a recorded NYSP interview of Tusch, interviews with CPD officers, interviews with civilian witnesses, and a collision reconstruction report. OSI’s footage page says footage from two nearby security cameras was released.

The report says responding Colonie officials smelled alcohol associated with Tusch before the investigation was turned over to New York State Police. Two civilian witnesses who interacted with him said they did not observe signs of impairment. OSI says Tusch initially refused chemical testing three times before later consenting.

The Testing Timeline Matters

OSI says Tusch submitted to a breath test at 1:05 a.m. and a blood sample at 1:28 a.m., more than three hours after the collision. Both showed a 0.02 BAC. The report says OSI consulted a forensic toxicologist about whether the collision-time BAC range could be estimated. Because the measured concentration was below 0.03, OSI says retrograde extrapolation could not be used under the referenced forensic guidelines.

That does not make the testing sequence unimportant. It makes it more important as a record problem. Residents should be able to see whether the off-duty officer was treated the same way a civilian driver would be treated after a fatal crash, whether refusals triggered the ordinary consequences, whether supervisor decisions were documented, and whether any department discipline or policy review followed.

The criminal-law conclusion turns on proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Administrative accountability can ask a different question: what did the department learn, what did supervisors do, and what should change after a fatal off-duty officer crash where alcohol was part of the source trail?

What OSI Did And Did Not Find

OSI says the evidence showed Tusch was driving in the proper lane and close to the posted speed limit, and that there was no evidence he was using a cellphone at the moment of collision. OSI also says field sobriety tests were not indicative of impairment and that the available evidence was insufficient to prove intoxication or a BAC above the legal limit at the time of the crash.

Those are charging facts. They do not answer the public’s remaining records questions: whether the officer faced internal discipline for the refusal sequence, whether Colonie police changed fatal-crash handling rules for off-duty officers, whether any conflict screen was documented, whether NYSP issued any refusal-related administrative action, or whether the family filed a civil claim.

Confirmed, Pending, Missing

Confirmed by NY AG OSI: Bonds died after being struck by off-duty CPD Officer Jason Tusch; OSI investigated under Executive Law Section 70-b; OSI will not seek criminal charges; Tusch initially refused chemical testing multiple times before later breath and blood testing; later tests showed 0.02 BAC; OSI says the evidence was insufficient to prove criminally negligent homicide or vehicular manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt.

Pending: Colonie administrative discipline, New York State DMV or refusal-related administrative records, civil docket status, department crash-handling policy, off-duty officer notification rules, supervisor review, and whether any agency changed procedures after the incident.

Not proven by this source trail: BadPD is not saying Tusch was legally intoxicated, committed a crime, exceeded the legal BAC limit, or was found administratively responsible. OSI says those criminal elements could not be proven. The public accountability issue is what the non-criminal records show next.

The next useful receipt is not speculation about the crash. It is the administrative file: discipline or no discipline, policy change or no policy change, refusal consequences, conflict-screen notes, and any civil-court record. A no-charge OSI report closes one lane. It should open the records lane.

Source Trail

• New York Attorney General OSI release: John Bonds report (June 4, 2026) – Primary official release: OSI says John Bonds died after being struck by an off-duty Town of Colonie Police Department officer and no criminal charge is warranted.
• New York Attorney General OSI report: investigation into the death of John Bonds (June 4, 2026) – Primary official report: source for collision timeline, testing/refusal sequence, toxicology limits, reconstruction facts, legal analysis, and no-charge conclusion.
• New York Attorney General OSI footage page: John Bonds (Footage page checked June 21, 2026) – Official footage receipt: AG page says OSI released footage from two nearby security cameras that captured the incident.