MARCH 20, 2015
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK
//--------------------------------------------//
A New Jersey policeman posted an Instagram photo — three
shots of whiskey — just hours before ignoring four traffic signs and cruising
the wrong way on a Staten Island expressway.
The lethal late-night horrendous, deadly and tragic blunder,
after a party at a topless bar, left two passengers dead when the off-duty
cop’s Honda Civic plowed head-on into a tractor-trailer early Friday,
authorities said.
Officer Pedro Abad Jr., in his midnight Web post, recounted
his toast at a Roselle, N.J., bar shortly before the 4:51 a.m. collision.
“Here’s to finding that which we all hope for,” he wrote
beneath the photo of three glasses filled with 70 proof Jack Daniel’s Tennessee
Fire at the Central Park Bar.
Abad, 27, a six-year police veteran, was behind the wheel of
the Civic about five hours later as his northbound car weaved through
southbound traffic on the West Shore Expressway, sources said.
NYPD investigators sought a warrant hours after the wreck to
check the officer’s blood for alcohol as they tried to determine if booze was
involved in the pre-dawn crash.
No alcohol was found inside the battered vehicle, but the
NYPD will rely on the blood tests to determine if Abad was legally intoxicated.
His blood was drawn after the crash at a Staten Island hospital.
The three young cops and their pal were headed back to New
Jersey from a wee-hours party at Curves, a Staten Island “gentleman’s club”
featuring topless dancers, police said.
The manager at the club said he didn’t know if the men were
drinking, but insisted his staff would have stopped anyone visibly intoxicated
from driving.
“We are cooperating with the authorities on the
investigation,” said Curves manager Thomas Ford.
The trucker was taken to Staten Island University Hospital
North with minor injuries. Tests showed the truck driver had no alcohol
in his system at the time of the crash, cops said.
A surveillance video shot from a Staten Island gas station
showed the Civic turning the wrong way onto a service road at about 4:49 a.m.
The first 911 call followed almost immediately.
BP gas station manager Ramzi Abdelhaq recounted watching in
disbelief as the car took off in the wrong direction.
“I started thinking, wondering, ‘Did he see the signs? Did
he not see the signs? What was he doing?’” said Abdelhaq, 29. “Less than 10
minutes later, all I see is ambulances and I just kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, I
hope it’s not the guy going the wrong way.’”
Incredibly, the Civic drove head-on into two
tractor-trailers in the darkness — with the first swerving to dodge the
oncoming vehicle before the car plowed directly into the second big rig, said NYPD
spokeswoman Deputy Chief Kim Royster. The Civic was demolished by the impact,
its front end torn and twisted and its roof sheared completely off.
Adbelhaq said Abad’s car was moving rapidly when it made the
errant left turn.
“They went by quickly,” the manager said. “They turned the
wrong way and sped by.”
The NYPD visited the station after the crash and left with a
copy of the videotape. Investigators also planned to fully retrace the
officers’ night before they arrived at Curves, and hoped the car’s black box
might prove helpful.
An off-duty New Jersey police officer who was driving the
wrong way on a Staten Island highway collided with a tractor-trailer early
Friday, an accident that killed a fellow officer and another man, authorities
said.
Linden police Officer Pedro Abad Jr., two other off-duty
officers and a friend had just left a strip club before the crash occurred
shortly before 5 a.m. on the West Shore Expressway, a law-enforcement official
said.
Hours before the accident, a photo was posted on Officer
Abad’s Instagram account. It appeared to show three liquor-filled glasses.
The post described the drinks as “Jack Daniels Fire” whiskey
and mentioned a toast with others that evening.
Officer Frank Viggiano and Joseph Rodriguez, a civilian
riding in the front-passenger seat, were killed. Both men were 28 years old,
the New York Police Department said.
The 27-year-old Officer Abad, a six-year member of the
Linden Police Department, and Patrik Kudlac, 23, were hospitalized in critical
condition, the NYPD said.
The 34-year-old driver of the 2013 Mack truck was
hospitalized in stable condition, the NYPD said. His name wasn’t immediately
released.
The incident shook Linden, a city of 40,000, and its
119-member police force. Linden sits just across Goethals Bridge from Staten
Island.
“This is obviously a sad day for the Linden family,” Mayor
Derek Armstead said at a news conference. “These are some of our brightest
police officers... we’re at a tremendous loss without them.” We certainly doubt as to whether these were the "brightest", because they were obviously drunk driving the wrong way after had visited strip club in Staten Island at 5:00 am. If these are the brightest, then this could explain the a lot of things in the otherwise gerat state of New Jersey.
The tractor-trailer is registered to Snavely’s Mill Inc., a
Lititz, Pa.-based company. A company official didn’t immediately return a call
for comment.
A law-enforcement official said the truck driver registered
zero alcohol in a Breathalyzer test.
The four men in the car had been at Curves Gentleman’s Club
on Staten Island before the crash, officials said. A manager at the club
declined to comment.
Investigators are reviewing video footage and interviewing
club patrons and employees to determine if the occupants of the car had been
drinking, and if so, how much, the official said.
Doctors took blood samples from all four men and
investigators have applied for a warrant to test the samples for alcohol, New
York City police said.
Linden police said it was premature to speculate on the
cause of the accident.
“We were all young once and I am sure we’ve all done stupid
things,” Linden Police Chief James M. Schulhafer said at the news conference
with the mayor.
The chief called the crash “an unspeakable tragedy.” He said
the two injured officers were “fighting for their lives.”
Chief Schulhafer said he called an impromptu meeting of the
department.
“I told them this is a day that will live with them for the
rest of their lives,” he said.
He said he had known some of the car occupants since they
were children. All four men lived in Linden and were married; none had
children.
The accident occurred on the West Shore Expressway a short
distance from the on ramp from Arthur Kill Road, the NYPD said.
Mr. Rodriguez, a former Union County employee, was
pronounced dead at the scene, New York City police said.
Officer Viggiano, who was seated directly behind Mr.
Rodriguez, was pronounced dead a short while later at a Staten Island hospital,
police said. He had been with the Linden police force for five years.
Officers Abad and Kudlac both underwent surgery for “severe
injuries,” Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki said.
“By no means are they out of the woods,” he said. Of course even if they make it, they will be
scared for life.
Source: http://www.wsj.com
//-----------------------------------------------------//
TWO KILLED IN
WRONG-WAY CRASH INVOLVING OFF-DUTY NEW JERSEY POLICE
MARCH 20, 2015
NEW YORK, NY(Reuters)
A New Jersey police officer was killed and two more officers
were critically injured when they drove the wrong way on to a highway early
Friday morning and collided head-on with a tractor-trailor, police said.
The Linden, N.J., police officers who were off-duty, were
driving in a Honda Civic at about 4:50 a.m. when they entered an expressway in
the New York borough of Staten Island heading north in its southbound lanes,
the New York City Police Department said in a statement.
New York police, who are investigating the crash, did not
identify the men as officers, but other local police departments have sent
tweets referring to the deceased as members of the Linden force. Police in
Linden, a New Jersey suburb near Staten Island, were not immediately available
for comment.
Two of the passengers, both 28, were killed in the
collision, police said. The 27-year-old driver of the car and 23-year-old
backseat passenger were transported to a local hospital and are in critical
condition, they said.
The driver of the Honda was an officer and the two deceased
passengers were an officer and a friend who was not on the police force, the
New York Daily News reported.
The Daily News reported that the men were likely driving
back from the Curves strip club in Staten Island when the crash occurred.
It was not clear why the men were driving the wrong way onto
the expressway or if alcohol was a factor. The New York Police Department said
it is investigating the incident.
The 34-year driver of the tractor-trailor is also being
treated at an area hospital and is in stable condition, police said.
The collision comes six months after an off-duty New York
City police officer drove the wrong way on the New York Thruway in Rockland
County, north of the city, and crashed his pickup truck into another vehicle,
killing himself and the driver of the other car.
Source: www.reuters.com
//-------------------------------------------//
LATEST ON WRONG-WAY
CRASH: DAD EXPRESSES NO ANGER AT DRIVER
The father of a man who was killed along with an off-duty
police officer after their car crashed into a truck while going the wrong way
called his son "my pal" and said they planned to go trout fishing in
two weeks.
Angelo Rodriguez spoke Friday to The Associated Press on the
doorstep of the family's home in Linden. He described his son, Joseph, as
well-spoken, well-mannered and always willing to help people. At times,
Rodriguez broke into tears.
"I'm still in shock," he said. "He ain't
coming home no more."
Rodriguez didn't seem angry at the driver, another off-duty
police officer. Police are investigating whether alcohol played a part in the
accident.
Rodriguez said: "It doesn't matter if the driver was
drinking because accidents happen."
___
5:30 P.M.
Authorities say they have applied for a warrant to test the
blood-alcohol level of an off-duty police officer behind the wheel of a car
that smashed into a tractor-trailer while going the wrong way on a New York
City highway.
The New York Police Department said Friday that Linden
Officer Pedro Abad's blood has been drawn and investigators applied for the
warrant. The crash killed Abad's fellow officer Frank Viggiano and a friend Joe
Rodriguez. A third off-duty officer, Patrik Kudlac, was critically injured
along with Abad.
Abad had posted a photo on Instagram hours earlier of three
shot glasses filled with alcohol. Police say the four men were at a strip club
on Staten Island before the fatal crash early Friday.
___
5:15 P.M.
A patrol captain who worked with the three off-duty New
Jersey police officers involved in a deadly wrong-way crash on a New York City
highway says they were all good cops.
William Turbett Jr. said Friday that he's known Linden
police Officer Frank Viggiano for years and had to break the news of his death
to his parents.
Turbett says Viggiano loved fishing and his mother even asked
Turbett this morning: "Where were they? Were they on their way fishing
someplace?"
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead says he was a very pleasant
young man who once served as his driver.
Viggiano and a civilian were killed in the Friday morning
crash, while two other off-duty officers remain hospitalized in critical
condition.
___
3:55 P.M.
An off-duty New Jersey officer who drove the car involved in
a deadly wrong-way crash on a New York City highway had posted a photo on
Instagram hours earlier of three shot glasses filled with alcohol.
Patrol Capt. William Turbett Jr. confirmed Friday that the
Instagram account belonged to 27-year-old Linden police Officer Pedro Abad.
Abad was critically injured in the crash along with another officer. A third
officer and a civilian were killed.
Abad identifies the drinks in the photos as "Jack
Daniels Fire." A spokeswoman with the New York Police Department says the
group of four had left a strip club before the crash.
Another Instagram post shows Abad as a member of the honor
guard for the funeral procession of a slain Philadelphia police officer last
weekend.
___
3:20 P.M.
Officials are identifying the three off-duty New Jersey
officers and the civilian involved in a deadly wrong-way crash on a New York
City highway.
Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki says the driver of the
car was 27-year-old Officer Pedro Abad, a six-year veteran of the Linden Police
Department. Abad was critically injured in the crash, along with 23-year-old
Officer Patrik Kudlac, who had been on the force for two years.
He says 28-year-old Officer Frank Viggiano died in the
crash. He was a five-year veteran. Also killed was 28-year-old Linden resident
Joe Rodriguez.
Sarnicki says Abad and Kudlac are "fighting for their
lives."
The car had left a strip club and was headed in the wrong
direction on a Staten Island highway when it struck a tractor-trailer. The
truck driver's injuries aren't life-threatening.
___
2:05 P.M.
Video taken by a surveillance camera at a New York gas
station shows a car traveling the wrong direction on a service road minutes
before a wrong-way crash on an adjacent highway killed one off-duty New Jersey
police officer and critically injured two others.
New York Police Department spokeswoman Kim Royster says the
officers' car was traveling the wrong way, and a fourth man in their vehicle
died. The driver of the truck they hit had non-life-threatening injuries.
A southbound exit ramp leads from the highway onto the
service road.
Gas station attendant Ramzi Abdelhaq tells WABC-TV he's seen
cars traveling the wrong direction on the service road before.
The video's time stamp reads 4:48 a.m. Police received a 911
call of a crash on the highway at 4:51 a.m.
___
1:20 P.M.
The New York Police Department says investigators have
determined three New Jersey off-duty officers were at a strip club before their
vehicle was involved in a deadly head-on crash with a truck.
Deputy Chief Kim Royster says the men were at the Curves
strip club before the Staten Island crash Friday morning. She says detectives
are going to review video footage and interview patrons and employees to learn
whether any of the men had been drinking.
Royster says the 27-year-old officer who was driving is in
critical condition. A 28-year-old civilian passenger died at the scene.
She says the 28-year-old officer in the right rear passenger
seat died at a hospital and the 23-year-old officer in the left rear passenger
seat is critically hurt.
The truck driver had non-life-threatening injuries.
___
11:55 A.M.
Flags have been lowered to half-staff outside a City Hall in
New Jersey after a wrong-way crash that left an off-duty police officer and
civilian dead and two other officers critically injured.
The flags lowered Friday morning in front of Linden City
Hall are part of a war memorial surrounded by smaller American flags.
The New York Police Department says a car carrying four
people was traveling in the wrong direction when it smashed into a truck on
Staten Island. The truck driver suffered injuries that weren't considered
life-threatening.
A bartender who grew up in Linden and has lived here most
his life called the crash "devastating." He says: "The police in
Linden are looked at very, very highly. They're very well-respected in our
town."
___
11:20 A.M.
A New Jersey police captain says a chaplain and grief
counselors are at police headquarters after an off-duty officer died and two
others were left critically injured in a wrong-way crash in New York City.
Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki says the city's mayor and
police chief are visiting them at Staten Island hospitals Friday morning. A
fourth person in the car was a civilian, and he also died.
Sarnicki says the officers involved in the 5 a.m. crash are
men in their 20s. They have been on the police force for less than 10 years.
The New York Police Department says the officers' car was
traveling in the wrong direction when it hit a truck. The truck driver was
treated at a hospital for injuries that weren't considered to be
life-threatening.
___
10:30 A.M.
The New York Police Department says a car carrying three
off-duty New Jersey police officers was driving the wrong-way when it struck a
truck on Staten Island.
The crash happened early Friday on the West Shore
Expressway.
Police say the car was carrying four people, including the
three off-duty Linden Police Department officers, when it crashed into a truck
at about 5 a.m. A fourth person in the car also died.
The truck driver was treated at a hospital for injuries that
weren't considered to be life-threatening.
___
10:10 A.M.
A New Jersey mayor says a wrong-way crash in New York City
has left one off-duty police officer dead and two others critically injured.
The New York Police Department says the crash early Friday
in Staten Island was between a truck and a car carrying four people, including
the three officers. The fourth person in the car also died.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead tells local media outlets Friday
that the three officers worked in the Linden Police Department.
The identity of the fourth person in the car isn't clear.
The NYPD says the truck was southbound on the West Shore
Expressway when the vehicles crashed head-on just before 5 a.m.
The truck driver was treated at a hospital for injuries that
weren't considered to be life-threatening.
Source: www.ap.com
//-------------------------------------------------------//
OFF-DUTY OFFICER
POSTED BOOZE PHOTO BEFORE FATAL ACCIDENT
MARCH 21, 2015
LINDEN, N.J. (AP)
Police are investigating whether alcohol use explains how a
car carrying three off-duty New Jersey police officers from a visit to a strip
club drove the wrong way down a New York City highway and crashed head-on into
a tractor-trailer, killing an officer and a civilian and critically injuring
two other policemen.
Hours before the crash, the officer driving the car posted a
photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he
identified as "Jack Daniels Fire on the house."
"We were all young once and I'm sure we've all done
stupid things in our life," said Linden Police Chief James Schulhafer.
"But that being said, because this is an ongoing investigation, it would
be way too premature to speculate on what caused this accident." Unfortunately, this is the typical attitude
of the ew Jersey police: when comes to their own, they always find excuses for
their wrongful behavior and do a thorough and complete cover-up. This is the state of the corrupt and the
crooked cops. Thank god the investigation
is done by New York and not by the corrupt state of New Jersey. We have very high respect for New York, but
extremely low to no respect for the investigation of New Jersey authorities of
their own behavior.
The dead were identified as 28-year-old Linden Officer Frank
Viggiano and 28-year-old Joe Rodriguez, a former county employee. Both were
passengers in the car.
The 27-year-old driver, Pedro Abad, and 23-year-old
passenger Patrik Kudlac, also Linden police officers, were listed in critical
condition at hospitals on Staten Island. Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki
said they have severe and extensive injuries and are fighting for their lives.
Abad's blood has been drawn, and investigators have applied
for a warrant to test his blood-alcohol level, the New York Police Department
said.
The truck driver suffered injuries that weren't believed to
be life-threatening.
Video taken by a surveillance camera at a gas station shows
a car traveling the wrong way on a service road minutes before the wrong-way
crash on the adjacent highway. A southbound exit ramp leads from the highway
onto the service road. The time stamp on the video showing the car reads 4:48
a.m. Police received a 911 call of a crash on the highway at 4:51 a.m.
One tractor-trailer swerved out of the way of the car on the
West Shore Expressway on Staten Island, but a second didn't have enough time to
veer away before the crash, Royster said.
Sarnicki said all three officers were relatively new to the
force and were unmarried without children. Viggiano was a five-year veteran,
Abad was a six-year veteran and Kudlac had two years on the job.
"At this point our thoughts and prayers go out to the
family of Officer Frank Viggiano," he said, describing him as well-liked
by everybody. "This is an unspeakable tragedy."
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead talks during a news conference
surrounded by police officers at City Hal …
Rodriguez's father, Angelo, called his son "my
pal" in an interview with The Associated Press at the family's home in
Linden. He said they planned to go trout fishing in two weeks.
He described his son as well-spoken, well-mannered and
always willing to help people. He said his son loved basketball and fishing and
had lots of friends.
Rodriguez didn't seem angry at the driver, saying that
"it doesn't matter if the driver was drinking because accidents
happen." At times, he broke into tears.
"I'm still in shock," he said. "He ain't
coming home no more."
Joe's uncle, Joseph Simone, described him as
family-oriented.
Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki, talks during a news
conference at City Hall in Linden, N.J. Frid …
"He was too young," Simone said. "He was too
young. I was with him yesterday and he's gone today."
Abad posted a photo of the drinks on his Instagram page
before the crash that included a caption of a toast he said he had given.
"The 3 of us, are decent people. There's a decent woman
out there for each of us. Sure it's cool to be single every now and then, but I
don't give a damn what ANYONE says. At the end of the day, I want a family. I
want to settle down. We all do. So here's to finding that which we all hope
for."
Other images on his Instagram page include photos of him
serving in the honor guard at the funeral last weekend for a Philadelphia
police officer killed in the line of duty.
In his 37 years working for the department, Sarnicki said,
he couldn't remember any officers being killed in the blue-collar refinery town
of 41,000 residents just across the water from Staten Island.
"People are in a somber mood. I could see some officers
with tears in their eyes. It is an emotional day for all of us. Like I said, we
are a family and we're all hurt by this," he said. "It's tragic for
people to lose their lives at such an early age, whatever the reason."
Source:www.ap.com