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City resident Rafael Rodriguez-Rivera, 30, was behind the wheel of a 2012 Ford Escape when he struck JCPD Officer Morton Otundo on a Yamaha motorcycle on Communipaw Avenue around 2 a.m. on July 16, 2021, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.
Otundo, 40, was treated at the scene before being rushed by Emergency Medical Services to Jersey City Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at approximately 2:30 a.m.
The investigation found that Rodriguez-Rivera did not have a valid New Jersey driver’s license.
He was charged with one count of causing death while driving unlicensed and surrendered himself to detectives with the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit in Jersey City at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022.
He was released on a summons and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 8, 2022.
More than $84,000 had been raised on a GoFundMe in Otundo's memory as of Jan. 10. The campaign was started by Otundo's former colleague Melagne Ramirez.
"[Otundo] strived to educate and mold younger officers to be great at every turn," Ramirez writes.
"Morton was a phenomenal cop who did his job efficiently and always made sure his coworkers were good on the streets regardless of anything else.
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