Trooper who killed 2 gets traffic tickets

Star Ledger ^ | 10.25.06 | Y RICK HEPP

[Renegade]

The traffic tickets were issued just before the deadline of 30 days . The investigation is being carried out by the state police on a state trooper . There is no LOCAL police force in this township , so the investigation should be carried out by a third party , namely the FBI . The guy blew through a stop sign , on duty , with lights and sirens off . You be the judge !

[Renegade]

He ran the stop sign with an open throttle , IN THE DARK, with LIGHTS OUT and NO SIREN. That doesn't happen to just anyone !

[hnj_00]

and then people wonder why they are called pigs!!!!

these f'n a-holes belong in jail...why should they be above the law they swore to uphold?

[livius]

Having been t-boned and almost killed by a dumb chick who drove through a stop sign while she was arguing with her boyfriend on her cell phone, I have no sympathy for this guy. Why is he even still on the road?

[oceanview]

that was the Meadowbrook Pkwy, and he had 14 drinks.

I don't know the details here, but not every person who commits a traffic offense resulting in an accident with injury/death, goes to jail for manslaughter.

[BraveMan]

Like it or not, the first step is to protect yourself:

Two years have passed since my son was killed by the actions of an inattentive driver. The lawsuits have all been settled. I've grown accustomed to the knowledge that I'll likely never receive an apology from the man whose actions tore our life apart.

God forbid, should the roles ever be reversed, I will never hold back rendering an apology to those whose lives I devastated. I could not bring myself to do so just to save a little skin on my sorry ass.

[monday]

I was quoting Hottieboy post #10. please direct your anger towards him

[BJClinton]

I'd consider possibly apologizing for murdering your kids

Are you saying he intended to kill them?

[stopsign]

Poor Family. This is "BULL!" If anyone of us citizens did this we would still be in jail...: ( <<< me

[buccaneer81]

Here in Ohio we have drunk driving State Troopers who kill themselves and innocent civilians. And then their union tries to discredit the coroner's report regarding the blood alcohol content. What a country!

[tfecw]

I bet he knows a guy can 'take care of those tickets' for him.

[Hildy]

isn't that the definition of manslaughter????

[Continental Soldier]

How many times have I seen the police ignore and violate speed limit signs and stop signs and even no turn signs? Now one of them has done what everyone feared -- killed somebody. While this officer undoubtedly never meant to hurt anyone, he thought he was above the laws and ordinances the rest of us are held to. It is the mentality of special entitlement that must be addressed and corrected.

[Atlas Sneezed]

An apology can be used against you in court. However, it's not unusual for someone to apologize on behalf of another party. Like it or not, the first step is to protect yourself: 1. Shut up. 2. Lawyer up.

---

How about:
"I'm so sorry for your loss, I can only imagine the pain you must be suffering. I wish there was somehting I could do to change what happened. Again, please accept my deepest condolences."

What would be so bad about that? What jury or judge would use that to find increased guilt?

[rednesss]

vehicular manslaughter n. the crime of causing the death of a human being due to illegal driving of an automobile, including gross negligence, drunk driving, reckless driving, or speeding. Vehicular manslaughter can be charged as a misdemeanor (minor crime with a maximum punishment of a year in county jail or only a fine) or a felony (punishable by a term in state prison) depending on the circumstances. Gross negligence or driving a few miles over the speed limit might be charged as a misdemeanor, but drunk driving resulting in a fatality is most likely treated as a felony. Death of a passenger, including a loved one or friend, can be vehicular manslaughter if due to illegal driving.


Blowing through a stop sign is illegal driving.

[rednesss]

You know, I'm not defending this guy, but I was un-aware up until about 2-3 months ago that Laura Bush was involved in a fatal car accident when she was like 17 where she blew through a stop sign and killed a fellow high school student. She was not charged. This was in like 1962. Somewhere between then and now we as a society have taken on a philosophy that no mistakes are allowed and if you mess up your a$$ is going to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200 every time unless you have Kobe's money.

Accidents do happen and it really could be you who might be talking on your cellphone and bam. The unfortunate thing is that the DA is treating this cop like they used to treat people all the time, but nowadays you and I average Joe Citizen better have $50,000 tucked away somewhere or else you're going to the big house for 5-7.

[dashing doofus]

Exactly right.

Where I grew up (Long Island), I knew some cops. I also knew that cops would not ticket off duty cops for dwi. Or bwi.

Long time ago, but I know directly where clear cases of DWI and BWI were not pursued after being pulled over, because one of the passengers was an off duty cop.

[dr_lew]

I think this was a complicated accident. I also think "failure to stop" may be legalese, meaning that he was automatically at fault for the collision. I don't think it necessarily means he went flying through the intersection:

Rte 631, aka Tuckahoe Rd., is the main road through the middle of the picture. Stagecoach Rd. is the road intersecting it obliquely at the center. ( BTW, this is a few hundred yards from the Garden State Parkway exit at Marmora, N.J. used to enter Ocean City at 34th St. )

Here is a picture of the State Police car at the scene:

So how could this have happened?

To me it looks like he must have proceeded obliquely across Rt. 631 to turn into the driveway on the other side - it looks like a high school over there. The girls must have entered from the right of the picture, going southwest, and sideswiped him on the passenger side, as the photo indicates, then deflected across the road where they hit the third car, possibly waiting at the Stagecoach Rd. stop sign.

Of course, I can't draw any conclusions, but I'm very wary of the legalisms involved, which don't always take account of the realities, such as - how fast were the girls going?

[OldFriend]

This officer either ran a red light or ran thru a stop sign.

The girls were killed and yet the parents were refused any information for hours.

[OldFriend]

Please accept my deepest sympathy on the loss of your son.

I agree with you 100%....it's not about legalities, it's about humanity. Some just don't have any.