"This destroys the image of the police department for
years," said Maria Haberfeld, a professor at John Jay College of of
Criminal Justice and chair of the Department of Law, Police Science and
Criminal Justice Administration at the college.
"It's incomprehensible to me that he's still on the
force. It taints the whole department," she added.
LINDEN, NEW JERSEY
More than two months after he crashed head-on into a
tractor-trailer in Staten Island in a suspected drunk-driving accident that
killed two people, Linden Officer Pedro Abad remains on the city payroll. Abad,
27, had blood-alcohol
level of .24 -- three times the legal limit -- at the time of the head-on
crash, officials have said. He also has previously been charged with drunk
driving after two separate accidents.
He pleaded guilty to one of those incidents in 2013."This
destroys the image of the police department for years," said Maria
Haberfeld, a professor at John Jay College of of Criminal Justice and chair of
the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at
the college.
"It's incomprehensible to me that he's still on the
force. It taints the whole department," she added. She has used reports
about Abad in her police ethics class.
Linden police say they are still reviewing the case, and
awaiting results of the New York investigation, and have
not taken any disciplinary action. New York authorities have not filed any
charges against anyone involved in the crash.
Under the state Attorney General's Office guidelines, a
police officer can be suspended for several reasons, including if he is charged
with a first-, second- or third-degree crime, or even a disorderly person's
offense if that offense was committed while on duty.
An officer can also be suspended if he is a hazard to
another person, or if his or her suspension is necessary to maintain safety or
to maintain effective direction of public services.
Police can also suspend an officer found to be "unfit
for duty," but exactly what that means is not spelled out.
Thomas O'Reilly, of the Rutgers University Police Institute
in Newark, recalls the case of an officer in another state who was suspended
for repeatedly being late for work. Each police chief of director makes their
own decision about appropriate discipline.
"It's a discretion issue," O'Reilly said.
After a judge suspended his license on Oct. 16, 2013
following a guilty plea on a DUI charge in Rahway, Abad was assigned to write
red-light camera violations, according to records NJ Advance Media obtained
through an OPRA request.
Dashcam
footage of Officer Pedro Abad's 2013 stop on suspicion of DUI This Rahway
police dashcam footage of Pedro Abad's sobriety test during his Feb. 26, 2013
arrest for drunk driving was obtained by NJ Advance Media in response to an
OPRA request.
Between Oct. 17, 2013 and December 2014, Abad signed-off on
13,105 summons for red-light violations issued to drivers caught by the city's
automated cameras, according to those municipal records. That is more than
one-third of the 35,833 red-light tickets that the department issued during
that time period.
Reviewing red-light camera reports is a legitimate
assignment for an officer assigned to desk duty, law enforcement experts say.
However, at least one of those experts said the irony of an officer reviewing
traffic violations when he can't drive himself is bad for public perceptions.
If people knew an officer with a suspended license was
sending out tickets, "it would leave a bad taste in your mouth," said
Thomas O'Reilly, director of the Police Institute at Rutgers University in
Newark.
Haberfeld said having Abad sign the red-light camera tickets
was an option.
"It's not like he's stopping violators," Haberfeld
said.
On March 20,
Abad took a wrong turn while driving, after a night a drinking with three
friends, and drove north in the southbound lanes of the West Shore Expressway
in Staten Island. He crashed head-on into a truck, killing two passengers,
fellow Officer Frank Viggiano, and Linden resident Joseph Rodriguez, both
28.
Abad, 27, and another officer, Patrik Kudlac, 23, were
critically injured. Late last month, both were released from the hospital.
The state ordered all towns to stop using red-light cameras
as of Dec. 16, 2014, after critics said the five-year pilot program had not
proven the value of the systems and claimed it was a money-making effort by
municipalities.
///-----------------/////
CHRONICALLY DRUNK NEW JERSEY COP, PEDRO ABAD, DRIVING IN
DEADLY WRONG-WAY HEAD-ON STATEN ISLAND CRASH HAD BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION
THREE TIMES LEGAL LIMIT
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015
As we expected, the drunk NJ cop who killed his two friends
and injured himself and another friend of his, was blind drunk when he crashed
head-on driving the wrong way in Staten Island.
The New Jersey police officer, who hit a tractor-trailer
head-on driving the wrong-way on a Staten Island highway last month, killing a
fellow officer and a friend and critically injuring a third cop, had a blood
alcohol content of .24 percent, three times the legal limit, law enforcement
sources say.
Authorities had obtained a warrant to test Pedro Abad Jr.'s
blood-alcohol content following the March 20 wrong-way crash on the West Shore
Expressway.
The NYPD, who's investigating the crash, had no comment on
the toxicology results. A message was left with the Linden police officers'
union, and Abad's lawyer had no comment, saying only his client was in the
process of hiring a new attorney.
Abad, 27, was driving his fellow officers and friend on the
wrong side of the expressway on the way back from a strip club when his vehicle
slammed into the tractor-trailer, authorities said.
Hours before the crash, Abad had posted a photo on his
Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he identified as
"Jack Daniels Fire on the house." Authorities said at the time it was
"too premature" to speculate on what caused the accident.
Public records show Abad has been involved in eight
accidents since 2005 and has two arrests for drunken driving in the last four
years.
Cop in Fatal Crash Had Been Arrested for DUI, Records Show
Abad was hospitalized in critical condition following the
crash, which killed fellow Linden officer Frank Viggiano and friend Joseph
Rodriguez.
Patrik Kudlac, another Linden cop riding in Abad's Honda,
was also hospitalized in critical condition after the crash.
The Union County prosecutor's office has said it would hand
off the probe into the driving record and employment history of Abad to avoid
the perception of any conflicts of interest. The state attorney general's
office said the investigation will be handled by the Middlesex County
prosecutor's office.
Comments from citizens:
"Abad has been involved in eight accidents since 2005
and has two arrests for drunken driving in the last four years"
How is this clown still a cop? Good question:
Answer: This is New Jersey, the most corrupt and cop-friendly state
government. They pretty much do as they please: lie, kill, violate
traffic laws, extort, steal, double dip, etc.
If it was a black man facing marihuana charges, he would have
been in prison for several years prior to even get a substantive
hearing.
The two that were killed have just as much culpability as
the driver. Three of the people in the vehicle were police officers that
"know" better. The fourth passenger knew better, just like everyone
knows the dangers of drunk driving. Cops do not have to obey the law when they
are working and it has a bleeding effect on their personal lives.
I have a big problem that this guy had two drunken driving
arrests prior to this incident and he was still a police officer. Two people
are dead because of this guy who should know better. He should have been weeded
out with those two arrests. Police Officers like him ruin it for the 35+% that
are good officers and take their job seriously. I hope that they throw the book
at this guy.
On the morning of this crash, there were 4 idiots in that
car. The super drunk driving Pedro, and the three stooges that got real drunk
with him and still got into the car. Pedro or at least what is left of him
needs decades in jail. Hopefully he never drives again. .240 blood alcohol
level that is super wasted. What a Jerk!
Source: http://www.nbcnewyork.com
The Corrupt State of New Jersey: Pedro Abad, Jr., the drunken
cop who killed two people in blindly drunk wrong-way crash still on city
payroll.