The Linden Police Department in New Jersey was deficient in disciplining a police officer arrested twice on drunken-driving charges before he was charged a third time after a 2015 crash that killed a fellow officer and another passenger, a prosecutor said Friday.
Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park did not specify how the police department was deficient in disciplining Linden police Officer Pedro Abad for the two drunken-driving arrests that occurred before the fatal crash March 20, NJ.com reported. She said the prosecutor's office will now oversee the department's internal affairs division, pending further notice.
Linden police Chief James Schulhafer said in a statement that the police department "welcomes the additional oversight."
Abad has since been dismissed from the department, NJ.com reported.
Authorities allege that Abad was drinking with friends at Curves, a Staten Island strip club, before driving the wrong way on the West Shore Expressway and crashing head-on into a tractor-trailer. Officer Frank Viggiano and Joseph Rodriguez, both 28, were killed. Abad and 24-year-old Linden Police Officer Patrik Kudlac, who also was in the vehicle, were badly hurt.
Abad, 28, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and manslaughter charges. He is free on $25,000 bail. A vehicular homicide conviction carries up to 25 years in prison.
His attorney, Mario Gallucci, said it's concerning that the prosecutor's office thought Abad needed disciplining instead of treatment for the disease of alcoholism. "The first thing they thought of was discipline, not helping," Gallucci said.
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Abad had two drunken-driving arrests in the previous four years before the fatal crash: one from a 2011 accident in Roselle, New Jersey, after he allegedly drove through the wall of a convenience store; the other in 2013 after he struck a parked car in Rahway, New Jersey.
NJ.com reported that court records show the drunken-driving charge from the 2011 accident was dropped because Abad's attorney repeatedly failed to receive evidence from the Roselle Police Department.
Abad's license was suspended after the second arrest; the suspension ended in May 2014, the Motor Vehicle Commission said. A judge then required Abad to fit his car with an ignition interlock, designed to prevent a driver from driving drunk. The interlock device was removed in September 2014, the commission said.
