Prosecutor Investigating Linden Cop Involved in Fatal Wrong-Way Crash

The Union County Prosecutor’s Office is looking into the Linden Police Department after an officer who has previously been charged two times with driving while intoxicated drove the wrong direction on a Staten Island highway, fatally injuring a fellow police officer and passenger.

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead spoke with the county prosecutor’s office and said it will be launching an investigation into the driver in the wrong-way crash, Officer Pedro Abad, Jr., according to a report from MyCentralJersey.com. The investigation will look into his driving record and how he has kept his job despite being charged with two DUIs during his six years on the force, the report said.

“We are relying on the prosecutor’s office to handle the investigation,” Armstead said in the report. “We feel they will do a complete and thorough job with regard to the investigation.”

>> Related story: WATCH: Video Shows Cop Involved In Fatal Wrong-Way Crash Arrested In DUI Stop

Abad, 27, was driving the wrong direction on the West Shore Expressway around 5 p.m. on Friday, March 20, when he crashed into an oncoming tractor-trailer, the report said. Joseph Rodriguez, 28, of Linden, the front seat passenger, was killed at the scene. Frank Viggiano, a five-year veteran of the Linden Police Department, succumbed to his injuries at an area hospital a short time after the accident, according to the report.

Abad and another Linden officer, Patrik Kudlac, 23, who was the fourth passenger in the vehicle, are both in critical condition in Staten Island hospitals, published reports said.

Abad was hired as a police officer in Linden in January 2008, according to MyCentralJersey.

Abad had been charged twice with driving while intoxicated since 2011; one for a 2011 incident in Roselle and a second incident in Rahway in 2013, according to NJ.com.

According to the website, drunken driving charges or convictions do not automatically disqualify an officer from his or her position. Only when convicted of a third-degree offense or higher, crimes that involve dishonesty or offenses related directly to their job performance is a public official required to forfeit his or her position.

(Photo via screen capture of dashboard camera footage from NJ.com)