IN RE: Amnun PIROV (2026)

Judgment (denominated an order), Supreme Court, New York County (J. Machelle Sweeting, J.), entered April 9, 2025, which granted the petition to annul respondents' determination dated August 10, 2023, denying petitioner's application for accidental disability retirement (ADR) benefits, and directing respondents to grant such benefits, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the petition denied, and the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 dismissed.

The Board of Trustees' determination that petitioner police officer was not entitled to ADR benefits was supported by substantial credible evidence that his injuries, which were caused when he tripped over part of a speed bump in a parking lot while searching for the perpetrator of a crime, were not the result of an “accident.” Rather it was a risk inherent in his regular job duties, since the presence of the speed bump could reasonably have been anticipated by him (see Matter of Bodenmiller v. DiNapoli, 43 NY3d 43, 46–47 [2024]; Matter of Compagnone v. DiNapoli, 42 NY3d 1075, 1076 [2024]).

Moreover, petitioner and his partner did not cite a “defect” in the speed bump in the line-of-duty report, Witness' Statement, or the application for ADR benefits. This assertion was first raised in the petition filed three years after the incident. In any event, the Trustees' determination was reasonable and supported by the record, including the photograph that showed a readily observable speed bump with painted yellow lines, which was not crumbling or broken up. It was rational for the Trustees to conclude that petitioner could have reasonably anticipated encountering uneven pavement while responding to emergencies. We note that, while petitioner takes issue with the Trustees' purported reliance on a Google Maps image captured two years after the incident, the Trustees reviewed the photograph provided by petitioner after they considered the Google Maps image.

We have considered the remaining arguments and find them unavailing.