Inset: Daniela Salles and Angel Acevedo Jr. (Damiano Funeral Home). Background: Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass in Monmouth County, New Jersey (Google Maps).
A New Jersey police officer was on his way to work when he hit an embankment with his pickup truck, went "airborne," and crashed into a couple in another car, killing them.
John McClave III, 38, was found guilty by a jury on two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced.
The defendant's trial lasted a week in Ocean County Superior Court after the case was moved there due to "a potential conflict of interest."
McClave was an officer with the Hillside Police Department on Oct. 9, 2021, when, at about 7 p.m., he was heading to work. Also on the roadway some five miles from Newark were 40-year-old Angel Acevedo, Jr. and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Salles.
The officer was driving his 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck on the Garden State Parkway, while Acevedo was driving himself and Salles in a 2020 Toyota Corolla on Asbury Avenue below. McClave was driving "recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances," the prosecutorial agency said.
Suddenly, McClave "left the elevated roadway and landed on a vehicle on the roadway below," a discipline report for the officer reads.
An investigation determined his pickup truck "did not change direction or slow down significantly after it left the Garden State Parkway lanes, resulting in his vehicle becoming airborne upon hitting an embankment, eventually striking the car occupied by the victims."
Just before 7:30 p.m., members of the Tinton Falls Police Department and Wayside Fire Company responded to a report of a crash on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass. Officers discovered that Acevedo and Salles had both "sustained multiple severe injuries," and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
McClave was brought to Jersey Shore University Medical Center to be treated for "serious but not life-threatening injuries."
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office investigated the fatal accident, charged him with two counts of vehicular homicide, and then the Tinton Falls Police Department "immediately suspended" McClave without pay. While suspended and awaiting trial, McClave "submitted a letter of resignation from his position of police officer with the Hillside Police Department effective August 8, 2023," the discipline report states.
McClave faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in state prison, "with 85 percent of the sentence to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey's No Early Release Act (NERA)," the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office stated. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8.
"[T]he simplest pleasures in life brought Angel and Daniela great joy," an obituary for Acevedo and Salles reads. "They would often explore local hiking trails finding beauty in nature. They made time to have gatherings in their home and to visit family and friends no matter how near or far. Anyone who knew Angel and Daniela were touched by their kindness, humor, and positivity."
Comments