A Jersey City cop was charged Saturday morning with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated after allegedly running down a couple walking near Battery Park in New York City.
A New York City Police Department spokesperson said on Sunday that Jersey City Police Officer Martin Abreu, 25, was driving a 2007 Toyota Camry on West Street when he hit Marilyn Feng, 26, and Dennis Loffredo, 26 at approximately 3:40 a.m.
The spokesperson said Feng was pronounced dead at the scene while Loffredo was in critical but stable condition in St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York.
The spokesperson said Abreu was scheduled to appear Sunday in a New York court for his arraignment.
The Jersey City Police Department announced on Sunday that Abreu, hired by the JCPD in 2005, is suspended without pay pending further investigation.
Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey on Sunday issued the following statement, “The charges surrounding this incident are most serious and this type of activity will not be tolerated by the JCPD, which led to Mr. Abreu’s immediate suspension. While Mr. Abreu was in no way representing our department when this incident occurred. Our primary thoughts are with the injured and the woman who perished. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.”
Abreu’s case is the second one in recent years of a Jersey City cop being involved in a serious incident involving a vehicle. In January 2007, former Jersey City Police Officer Kevin Freibott killed 2-year-old Jose Carlo Zelaya and severely injured the boy’s mother in a DWI incident on the Pulaski Skyway. He was sentenced in February 2008 to 11 years in prison.– Ricardo Kaulessar