A Jersey City councilman has resigned, one year after he was arrested on DWI charges after he allegedly crashed a city vehicle he was driving with flashing emergency lights.
Khemraj “Chico” Ramchal was arrested after the three-car crash in March 2015 at Comminipaw and West Side avenues.
He pleaded guilty Thursday to assault by auto and theft by deception, the latter of which is related to a no-show job with the Hudson County Improvement Authority, The Jersey Journal reported. He was later fired from the agency.
He's expected to plead guilty to the DWI charge related to the crash on July 15 at a sentence hearing.
As part of the deal with country prosecutors, Ramchal will avoid jail but is expected to be banned from government jobs for the rest of his life at sentencing.
Ramchal apologized after the incident, saying "I take full responsibility for this incident which I regret very deeply."
His attorney John Bruno told The Jersey Journal Ramchal has been seeking help and therapy since the crash.
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"He's so grateful that he's been treated fairly by the city as well as the prosecutor's office," he said.
Ramchal was elected to the council in June 2013, and his current term was set to end next June.
The councilman was ticketed previously in 2009 for driving with illegal use of warning lights. Mayor Steven Fulop has said Ramchal never should have had a city car in the first place.
