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Former Newark Cop Gets Five Years For Vehicular Homicide, Attempted Coverup
Louis Santiago, a 26-year-old Bloomfield resident and former Newark police officer, was sentenced to five years in prison for fatally striking a pedestrian while driving drunk and then driving home with the victim's body in his car, authorities said.
Santiago had previously pled guilty to reckless vehicular homicide, desecrating human remains and driving under the influence in the death of Damian Dymka, a 29-year-old Garfield resident, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said.
On Nov. 1, 2021, at 3 a.m., Santiago, who was off duty and intoxicated, was traveling nort…
Off-Duty Son, Lieutenant Dad Indicted In Fatal Parkway Crash, Charges Dropped Against Mom
An off-duty Newark police officer, his father and his cousin were indicted by a grand jury on charges of trying to conceal the death of a pedestrian struck on the Garden State Parkway last year, authorities said.
Charges against the young officer's mother, however, have been dropped.
Louis A. Santiago, 25, was staring at a cellphone when his Honda Accord drifted onto the shoulder and struck Damian Z. Dymka, a 29-year-old nurse from Garfield, near Exit 151 in Bloomfield around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2021, they alleged.
What Dymka was doing on the parkway shoulder, particularly at that time, was…
Police Officer Brought Bergen Nurse's Body Home To Mom After Killing Him On Parkway: Prosecutor
A police officer was arrested for attempting to hide the body of a 29-year-old nurse who he struck and killed on the Garden State Parkway, authorities said.
Louis Santiago, 25, an officer in Newark, was off duty when he swerved into the right shoulder and struck Damian Z. Dymka, of Garfield, on the northbound side of the parkway near Exit 151 around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said.
Neither Santiago nor his passenger, Albert Guzman, 25, of Newark, called 911 and instead, put Dymka's body in the back of Santiago's 2005 Honda Accord, Stephens sai…