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Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Police Vehicle In South Jersey ID'd

Authorities identified a man who was struck and killed by a police car in South Jersey before dawn on Thanksgiving as a 44-year-old resident of Berlin.

The crash on the White Horse Pike (Route 30) near Whispering Pine Drive in the ATCO section of Waterford Township at 2:19 a.m. Nov. 23.

The crash on the White Horse Pike (Route 30) near Whispering Pine Drive in the ATCO section of Waterford Township at 2:19 a.m. Nov. 23.

Photo Credit: Waterford Township PD / Google Maps

Christofe “Christopher” Wita was hit on the White Horse Pike (Route 30) near Whispering Pine Drive in the Atco section of Camden County's Waterford Township at 2:19 a.m. Nov. 23, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. 

Wita was pronounced dead at the scene, Platkin said.

Driving was Sgt. Richard Sbarra of the Waterford Township Police Department, who was on duty, he said.

 State law and his own guidelines require the attorney general to review any and all deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," no matter what the circumstances are.

The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas, the attorney general has said.

Once the investigation by Platkin’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is completed, the results are presented to the grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” he said.

The panel then renders a ruling on whether the incident was handled according to the attorney general's guidelines.

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