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He was driving under the influence when his vehicle drifted off the Garden State Parkway in Tinton Falls last fall, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.
John P. McClave III, 34, of Toms River has been arrested and charged with being criminally responsible for the motor vehicle crash that killed two people, she said.
McClave, a member of the Hillside Police Department, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, she said.
Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2021, Tinton Falls police and Wayside Fire Company responded to a report of a collision that had taken place on Asbury Avenue, near the Parkway overpass.
Upon arrival, officers encountered the two involved vehicles: a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by McClave, and a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by 40-year-old Angel L. Acevedo, Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland.
Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, sustained multiple severe injuries and were both pronounced dead at the scene, Linskey said.
McClave was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for treatment of serious but not life-threatening injuries.
An investigation by the multi-jurisdictional Monmouth County Serious Crash Analysis Response Team (SCART), the MCPO Fatal Accident Unit, and the Tinton Falls Police Department determined that McClave was driving his vehicle recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances at the time of the collision, the prosecutor said.
“This officer’s actions on the night of the collision far crossed the line separating passive negligence from active criminality, and as a result, a married couple has lost their lives,” Linskey said.
The investigation further determined that McClave’s vehicle did not change direction or slow down significantly after it left the Parkway lanes, resulting in his vehicle becoming airborne upon hitting an embankment, eventually striking the car occupied by the victims, Linskey said.
McClave was additionally issued summonses for reckless driving, failure to maintain lanes, failure to wear a seatbelt, and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle< Linskey said.
Anyone with information about this matter is still urged to contact Prosecutor's Office Detective Kristian DeVito toll-free at 1-800-533-7443 or Tinton Falls Police Department Patrolman David Ebert at 732-542-4422.
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