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Baldwinsville Police Officer Robert A. Thibault Jr.was involved in a one-vehicle crash over the summer. Here, he sits in his squad car at the Baldwinsville Police Department for a story about Thibault being named the department's 2010 Officer of The Year,

(Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, file photo 2011)

WEST MONROE, N.Y. -- Who was driving a 2001 black Audi when it started to go off an Oswego County road this summer, swerved back into the opposite lane and crashed into trees? And was the driver drunk?

State Police investigators can't answer those questions because one of the car's occupants - a Baldwinsville police officer - is refusing to cooperate with their investigation and the other person in the car has provided conflicting stories about who was driving.

This strategy used by the driver and passenger is so far working. The Oswego County District Attorney says he cannot charge anyone because he can't prove who was driving.

The police officer, Robert A. Thibault Jr., 43, was off-duty when the accident occurred at 4:46 p.m. June 21 on county Route 37 in West Monroe, according to state police.

Thibault, who owns the car, refused to tell state police officers if he was driving the car, police said.

Officers asked Thibault for blood so it could be tested for alcohol, said Jack Keller, a spokesman for the State Police. Officers requested the test because they noticed Thibault's eyes were glossy and bloodshot, he appeared to be disoriented and his speech was slurred, Keller said.

Thibault agreed to the test and his blood was drawn at the hospital where he had been taken after the crash, Keller said.

Police did not seek a blood test for the other man in the car, Keller said. At the time, officers believed that Thibault may have been the driver, Keller said.

What the tests show remains a secret because state police said the results can't be released because no charges were filed.

The other man in the car was Nicholas A. Smith, 34, of Utica, according to state police. Smith at first told investigators he was driving the car, but later said Thibault was driving, Oswego County District Attorney Greg Oakes said.

The state police finished its investigation and turned it over to the DA's office to determine charges, Keller said.

Oakes said no charges will be filed against either man because investigators cannot determine who was driving the car.

One defense lawyer with experience with DWI cases said that doesn't always happen.

Tom Anelli, a prominent Central New York lawyer known as "The DWI Guy," said in cases where police are unable to determine the driver of a vehicle generally the person who owns the vehicle is charged.

The Baldwinsville Police Department is conducting an internal administrative investigation into Thibault and the accident, according to Baldwinsville Police Chief Michael Lefancheck. Thibault has been put on "modified duty," which means he is not conducting street patrols, he said.

"We are aware of the incident and we have cooperated with state police," Lefancheck said. He declined to speak more about the crash due to the investigation.

A department conducts such an investigation - separate from the criminal case - to look into whether an officer violated any rules or regulations within the department or broke any state laws, said Margaret Ryan, the executive director of the New York State Association of Chiefs, who was not speaking specifically to the Baldwinsville officer's case. If a department investigation shows an officer broke department or state rules, an officer could face disciplinary actions, she said.

Thibault has been a police officer for more than 10 years. He was named Baldwinsville's officer of the year in 2010.

After the crash in June, a person who was the first on the scene told authorities that the driver's door was open and Smith was lying on the ground, Oakes said. Thibault was laying half-way in the backseat of the vehicle with his feet in the passenger side, according to the witness.

Emergency crews told state police they didn't know who was driving and by the time police arrived at the scene both men were out of the vehicle, Keller said.

Smith and Thibault were both injured and taken to Upstate University Hospital, according to state police.

Neither of the men were wearing seat belts, which Oakes said could have been key in determining who was driving.

"There is no physical evidence to make the determination," he said.

The district attorney's office also declined to release the results of the blood test.

Smith told investigators that he was driving and then said he wasn't driving, Oakes said.

"There was information pointing in both directions," Oakes said.

Oakes said both men have the right to not answer questions about the crash and that neither broke any laws by not cooperating.