Linden, New Jersey- A car carrying three “drunk” New Jersey police officers crashed head on with a tractor-trailer earlier on Friday. A civilian and an officer had died because of this crash and the rest two officers are critically injured. 28 year old officer Frank Viggiano and 28 year old Joe Rodriguez were the victims of the crash and both had been passengers in that car. The police officers were returning from a strip club and drove the wrong way down on a New York City highway. All the three officers were off duty.
In an attempt to find the reason behind the crash, it is being said that drunk driving had been the primary reason. Just hours before the fatal incident, the officer driving the car had posted a photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with alcohol, which was supposed to be “Jack Daniels Fire on the house.” This could prove why the car ended up driving north in the southbound lane of the Staten Island highway. However, authorities have not formally declared the reason.
Pedro Abad, a 27 year old Linden Police Officer was identified to be the driver of the car. The other officer in the passenger’s seat was Patrick Kudlac, a 23 year old. Blood has been drawn from Abad to check for alcohol levels. Injuries caused to the tractor trailer driver’s were not life threatening, though needs medical treatment.
In a statement made by Linden Police Chief James Schulhafer, he had mentioned that it would be premature to speculate on what caused the incident since it was an ongoing investigation.
The police officers were at the Curves Gentleman’s Club on the Staten Island before the crash, said New York City Police Department Chief Kim Royster. The Deputy Chief had mentioned this to the New Jersey based Courier News. She also mentioned that the black box from the car will help to determine the speed of the car just before the incident.