LINDEN -- The Linden officer seriously injured in the March 2015 double-fatal wrong-way crash where his fellow officer was allegedly driving drunk has resigned from the department.

Officer Patrik Kudlac, 24, resigned on Aug. 9 for "personal reasons," according to Linden Capt. James Sarnicki.

Kudlac suffered serious injuries and underwent months of rehabilitation following the crash. Previously, the department had said Kudlac planned to return before the end of the year.

On March 20, 2015, former Linden Officer Pedro Abad was allegedly driving drunk - three times over the legal limit, authorities say - in his Honda Civic, traveling the wrong-way on the West Shore Expressway and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer. Kudlac was a rear seat passenger in the car and was critically injured; another Linden officer, Frank Viggiano, 28, and a Linden resident, Joseph Rodriguez, 28, were killed in the crash.

The men were coming from Curves, a strip club in Staten Island, authorities said.

Before the double-fatal crash, Abad was charged with DUI in two other crashes, one in Roselle and another in Rahway, both during his tenure with Linden Police. However, Abad was only convicted in the Rahway case, where a police dashcam showed him failing a sobriety test.

A lawyer for Kudlac, David Wikstrom, has filed a tort claim notice with the city of Linden over the handling of the 2011 Roselle charge, which was dismissed a year later, on Jan. 19, 2012. Abad had crashed into a convenience store near the Roselle-Linden border, and Linden officers also responded to the scene.

"Upon information and belief, there occurred negligence, fraud and/or official misconduct in connection with the handling and prosecution of the aforementioned DWI charge against Pedro Abad Jr.," Wikstrom wrote in the claim notice.

An investigation into the department conducted by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office following the crash found that Linden Police were "deficient" in disciplining Abad after his DUI charges.

Calls to Kudlac and Wikstrom were not returned.

Abad was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges in a 27-count indictment earlier this year. His lawyer, Mario Gallucci, has argued that Abad may have been drugged by strippers at the club before the crash, and a test is being conducted on blood taken from Abad the night of the crash to determine if Gallucci's claim could be true.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.