Burlington Township man sentenced to prison after Sept. 23, 2016 car crash killed a 27-year-old female passenger.
Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Burlington Township man was sentenced today to four years in state prison for causing the death of a passenger when his car struck a utility pole last year on West Front Street in Florence Township.
A 25-year-old male from Clydesdale Drive, was sentenced in Superior Court by the Hon. Terrence R. Cook, J.S.C. on one count of Vehicular Homicide (Second Degree). The investigation revealed that the male consumed several alcoholic drinks in the hours before the collision. Toxicology tests revealed that the male had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit when he crashed his car on September 23, 2016, killing a 27-year-old female passenger of Florence.
“This was a criminal act, and like all criminal acts, this was senseless,” BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Thaddeus E. Drummond told the court. “There was no reason for those who loved the female — her friends and her family — to lose a daughter, a sister, a friend.”
The female was pronounced dead at the scene. The male was ejected from the vehicle and transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. He was discharged from the hospital on September 26.
At the time of the collision, the male was employed as a Burlington Township Police Officer. He was not on duty and was driving his personal vehicle, an Acura Integra.
“There is no sentence that could bring perfect justice to parents who lost a daughter, or a sister who lost her twin,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “What’s worse, her death was entirely preventable. This defendant was a police officer. He more than anyone should have known the dangers and drinking and driving. Our hearts and prayers are with her family, and with many of her friends, and we hope that today’s sentence can bring some measure of healing to them.”
The collision was investigated by the Florence Township Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. The lead investigators were Florence Township Detective Sergeant Al Jacoby and BCPO Major Crimes Unit Detective Brian Miller.
