Linden cop was busted twice for DUI before fatal wrong-way crash

LINDEN – He leaned against the Rahway police car for balance. His eyes were bloodshot and watery and his eyelids droopy. He slurred his speech and he smelled of alcohol.

That's how a 2013 Rahway police report describes Linden Police Officer Pedro Abad Jr. just before he was arrested for driving under the influence after striking a parked vehicle on Monroe Street.

The Rahway arrest was one of two for Abad since becoming a police officer in 2008. Abad also was arrested for driving under the influence in Roselle in January 2011. He answered those charges in municipal court and the charges were dismissed, according to Roselle Borough Administrator David G. Brown II.

Brown said the borough now is attempting to gather more information about the case and how the charges were adjudicated.

The 2013 Rahway accident resulted in a Abad losing his driver's license for 210 days, after which he was required to drive for 180 days with an ignition interlocking device on his vehicle, used to measure a driver's breath alcohol content before allowing the vehicle to start.

The 180-day period ended on Sept. 11. Last Friday, Abad was out with two other off duty Linden officers, Frank Viggiano and Patrik Kudlac, and friend Joseph Rodriguez at a Staten Island gentleman's club. As they left the club just before 5 a.m., Abad apparently drove his Honda Civic the wrong way on the West Shore Expressway near Arthur Kill Road and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer. Viggiano and Rodriguez, both 28, were killed in the crash. Viggiano was a five-year veteran of the Linden Police Department.

Thursday funeral for Officer Frank Viggiano

Funeral services for Rodriguez were held Wednesday. Viggiano's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Linden Presbyterian Church, 1506 Orchard Terrace, Linden.

Abad, 27, a six-year police veteran, and Kudlac, 23, a two-year police veteran, remain hospitalized in critical but stable condition at Staten Island hospitals.

A spokeswoman for New York City Police Department said the accident remains under investigation and there was no new information. New York City Police would not disclose if Abad's blood alcohol content level had been tested.

Hours before the crash, Abad posted a photo on his Instagram account of three shot glasses filled with what he called "Jack Daniels Fire on the house." Twitter messages he has posted over the past several months also have made reference to prostitutes, drinking and drugs.

Abad arrested in Rahway

The 2013 Rahway arrest paints a unsettling image of the young officer.

According to the police report, obtained through the Open Public Records Act, around 5:10 a.m. Feb. 26, 2013, Rahway police were dispatched to Monroe Street for a report a black vehicle hit a parked car and was attempting to leave the scene.

When police arrived they were flagged down by a resident on her front porch who had called to report the accident. The woman told police she was awakened by a loud bang and when she looked out her front window she saw that her Toyota Camry had been struck by a black two-door 2011 BMW.

The woman opened her front door, and the operator of the vehicle, later identified ad Pedro Abad Jr., walked into her home in an apologetic manner and apologized for striking her car, the report states.

The woman told police Abad "smelled like alcohol, like he's been drinking, I believe he is drunk." She also told police he fell against the wall several times, the report states.

Rahway Officer Mark Gresham met Abad in front of his patrol car and asked him what happened. Abad said he was driving east on Monroe Street and struck a parked vehicle in front of 157 Monroe St.

Gresham asked Abad if he knew where he was and he responded "I'm at Patrias," according to the police report.

As part of the OPRA request, Rahway police provided a dashboard camera video recording of the encounter between the Rahway officer and Abad.

The report states Abad smelled of alcohol and continued to lean against the police car for balance, and his eyes were bloodshot and watery, his eyelids droopy and his speech slurred.

Gresham conducted a field sobriety test on Abad, asking him to walk nine steps in a straight line, turn and walk back toward him. Abad took five steps, not using the heel-to-toe form demonstrated to him, used his arms for balance and did not count out the steps. After the fifth step, he stopped and bent over at the waist and remained in that position for 15 seconds with his eyes closed, the report states.

At that point, Abad was placed under arrest and charged with driving while intoxicated, handcuffed, searched and placed in a patrol vehicle. At police headquarters, Abad refused twice to provide breath samples for chemical testing, the report states. He was released to a sober person at 7:25 a.m. and issued summonses for driving while intoxicated in a school zone, refusing to submit to a chemical test, operating under the influence of alcohol and careless driving.

The Roselle arrest

Two years earlier, at 3:45 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2011, Roselle police responded to a a report of a motor vehicle accident at St. Georges Avenue and Rivington Street and observed several Linden officers along with two Union County officers standing around a vehicle that struck the east side of the New Way Supermarket, 1117 St. Georges Ave., according to a police report obtained through an OPRA request.

The driver was apparently traveling westbound on St. Georges Avenue when he lost control, struck a bus-stop, street-sign pole, stop sign and the wall of the supermarket, the report states.

The vehicle put a hole through the building, causing damage to the structure. The driver, Abad Jr., then 23, was unconscious with a bloody nose sitting in the driver's seat. Abad was unable to tell police what happened because of the injuries on the left side of his face.

Roselle firefighters extracted Abad from the vehicle, put him on a flat board, stabilized his neck and carried him to a Roselle Fire Department ambulance. While placing him in the ambulance a Roselle firefighter smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Abad. Another firefighter told Roselle police that Abad talked inside the ambulance about having two mixed drinks while at a local club. Abad was placed under arrest and charged with driving while intoxicated.

According to the police report, Abad was transported to University Hospital in Newark, where blood was drawn and later determined to have an alcohol content of .176 percent. Abad later was released to his father and issued summonses for driving while intoxicated and careless driving. His car, a 2010 black Audi, was towed from the scene, the police report states.

Linden police have declined to comment about Abad's driver's license suspension because it's part of the department's internal records.

It's unclear if Abad's driving record is being reviewing by other law-enforcement agencies. A spokesman for the Union County Prosecutor's Office said the office does not comment on active internal affairs investigations nor confirm or deny their status or existence. A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office also declined comment.

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com

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