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Allendale Officer Pretended To Be In Crash So Real Driver Could Get Away: Prosecutor

An Allendale police officer from Mahwah has been charged with hindering apprehension after he took responsibility as the driver in an accident so that the real driver could leave, authorities said.

Victor Bartoloma sworn in as a probationary officer in 2014.

Victor Bartoloma sworn in as a probationary officer in 2014.

Photo Credit: Allendale PD Facebook

Victor T. Bartoloma, 35, told the Ridgewood officer arriving at the scene that he was the one who'd been in the crash on Jan. 15, but he really had brought his personal vehicle to the scene so that the individual initially in the accident could drive off, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

Surveillance cameras showed that Bartoloma was not the driver and was not present at the time of the crash, Musella said. A witness told police at the scene that Bartoloma wasn't the driver of the vehicle involved in the crash, the prosecutor said.

Bartoloma was charged on Thursday, Jan. 19 with second-degree hindering apprehension, and was suspended without pay from his duties as a police officer.

He released pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

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