Funeral Wednesday for NYPD officer killed in wrong-way crash in Greenburgh

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (WABC) -- A funeral will held Wednesday for an off-duty New York Police Department detective killed when a vehicle traveling the wrong way hit his SUV head-on.

Det. Paul Duncan, 46, of Hartsdale, was killed Friday on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Greenburgh.

His wake is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. A funeral service will follow at 10 a.m.

The t vehicles collided head-on near Route 100B just after 4 a.m. State police received a report of a driver traveling northbound in the southbound lanes just minutes earlier.

A 2013 Honda Civic was heading northbound in the southbound lanes when it hit a southbound 2011 Honda Pilot driven by Duncan, a detective first grade in Internal Affairs who joined NYPD in 1998.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 20-year-old driver of the Civic, identified as Efren Moreano, of Yonkers, who was transported to Westchester County Medical Center in stable condition.

Police sources say marijuana was recovered in Moreano's vehicle, and a blood sample was taken to test for drugs and alcohol. He is expected to survive.

Moreano is believed to have entered the highway via an exit ramp and traveled between one and two miles northbound in the wrong direction, which several drivers reported before the crash.

Family members say the detective only had about ten months to go until retirement.

"Today he had to be at work super early, so it was a different routine," said Duncan's wife Rechelle.

Duncan hit the road at 4 a.m., three hours earlier than his normal routine. He was headed to his office in Queens when he was struck by the Honda Civic head-on.

"I don't what the hell, I don't even know how that's possible, quite honestly. I don't even know how that's possible," said Rechelle.

She was caught in the traffic caused by the accident without realizing it was her husband who was involved.

Normally, Duncan drops his 13-year old daughter off at school. Since he had to work early, his high school sweetheart and wife of 20 years dropped her off.

"This morning my daughter and I got in the car at 20 to 7, we got in the car, we head down the road to the Sprain and there was a police car blocking us and it took us two hours to get to school in the city."

Friends and family wasted no time getting to the family home in Hartsdale to provide love and support Friday afternoon. The 46 year old was set to retire in January, after 17 years with the department.

"He was really a genuinely good person and he wanted to do good," said Rechelle.

The southbound right and center lanes were closed for the police investigation through the morning commute.

Anyone with information regarding this crash is asked to contact the Hawthorne Bureau of Criminal Investigation by calling (914)769-2600.