Off-duty officer posted booze photo before fatal accident

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JILL COLVIN and JAKE PEARSON

LINDEN, N.J. (AP) — Police are investigating whether alcohol use explains how a car carrying three off-duty New Jersey police officers from a visit to a strip club drove the wrong way down a New York City highway and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer, killing an officer and a civilian and critically injuring two other policemen.

Hours before the crash, the officer driving the car posted a photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he identified as "Jack Daniels Fire on the house."

"We were all young once and I'm sure we've all done stupid things in our life," said Linden Police Chief James Schulhafer. "But that being said, because this is an ongoing investigation, it would be way too premature to speculate on what caused this accident."

The dead were identified as 28-year-old Linden Officer Frank Viggiano and 28-year-old Joe Rodriguez, a former county employee. Both were passengers in the car.

FULL story at link.



Memorial bunting adorns the entrance to City Hall in Linden, N.J. Friday, Mar. 20, 2015. Three off-duty Linden New Jersey police officers were involved in a wrong-way crash on Staten Island at 5 a.m. Friday morning that has claimed two lives. Two of the car's occupants were killed and two were in critical but stable condition. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150321/us-fatal-wrong-way-crash-56faea4868.html

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. Frank, Joe...

DUI is deadly.

[groundloop]

2. I'm at a loss to say much of anything.... very sad (and very stupid)

"We were all young once and I'm sure we've all done stupid things in our life..." Does that statement sound like he's trying to lessen the severity of the dumb-ass decision to drive drunk? IMO the driver of that car needs to be in jail for a long long time, and hopefully he'll be able to get some substance abuse counseling while there.

[MrScorpio]

3. That's exactly what he's trying to do

I just want to see what he says IF they ever publish the driver blood alcohol level.

[christx30]

4. That sounds exactly like

he's trying to lessen the severity of the DUI. "Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who..."
If this was a private citizen (not a cop) there would be no "Let's wait to see what the investigation turns up" stuff. The Hammer of Thor would drop on the driver hard. "We were all young once..." Sheesh. That's why people don't trust the police. They protect their own from responsibility for law breaking.

[tabasco]

22. Exactly right

If it was four civilians driving the wrong way coming from a strip club in the middle of the night, the cops would be treating this like a murder case, not a youthful indiscretion.

[LiberalFighter]

13. He's trying to say that the officers were outstanding men

and their actions shouldn't denigrate anything good he thinks they have done.

[DLnyc]

19. An "outstanding man" doesn't typically get drunk in a strip club and then kill two other people

and critically injure a couple more by driving in the wrong lane head-on into a semi truck.

[LisaL]

24. How very understanding he is.

I wonder if he would be that understanding if some civilian drove the wrong way on a highway and collided with a police car.

[marble falls]

27. Like someone else wrote above: if it were four WalMart workers, the driver would already be....

charged once the blood alcohol was established with some sort of vehicular homicide. All the good stuff they did would be moot and unspoken.

[Major Nikon]

5. 27 is "young"

Sounds like Shrub's "youthful indiscretions" that continued until he was 40.

[Fred Drum]

6. looking forward to the trial

i wonder if he'll be charged with killing cops

[heaven05]

9. might lose his job

but cleveland or ferguson or even cincinatti will take him. Hell just cross the bridge, he might even find employment in the NYPD.

[valerief]

7. How is a nearly 30-year-old policeman supposed to know drinking and driving is

against the law? Many cops don't even know shooting non-violent, unarmed black people is against the law.

[heaven05]

8. good one

[graegoyle]

16. Apparently, it's not illegal.

[C Moon]

10. "We were all young once..." is a phrase more for a teenager or early 20's. 27 and 28? Really?

Way too young to lose their lives, but old enough to know better than to get so drunk they can't find the road.

[Helen Borg]

11. Well, they were on the house...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Excellent point!

All the officers are innocent of any wrongdoing.

Blame the bartender.

For a while, it looked like one of the cops might have done something wrong.

[LiberalFighter]

14. Multiple standards

One for police... youthful indiscretion

One for minorities... guilty

One with money... no excuse needed

[whereisjustice]

15. +1

[christx30]

21. Almost right:

With money, it's a disease called Affluenza (sad that my spell check doesn't flag that word), which can be fatal. But never for the poor soul that has it just for people around him. He doesn't need jail for it. Just kindness and understanding.

[vkkv]

17. Come on! Investigators can find out the blood alcohol in 30 minutes!

This is a whole lot of B.S.!

[olddad56]

18. How are they going to figure out a way to blame it on the truck driver?

[UpInArms]

20. best post of the thread!

[Nye Bevan]

23. Could it be the case that cops are more likely to drink and drive

because they know that if they get pulled over "professional courtesy" will kick in?

[tabasco]

28. You know it.

They are above the law and they know it.

Our society is sick.

[truthisfreedom]

25. Not the best publicity for Jack Daniels Fire

Or cops, for that matter.

[tularetom]

26. He's the one who hired these young stupid people

Guess he couldn't find any young smart ones who wanted to be cops.

Fortunately they didn't take anybody else with them.

[DesertDiamond]

29. Giving them free donuts isn't unhealthy enough, let's get them drunk! Smart move, strip club