Dashcam video, 911 call captures Linden cop's earlier DUI arrest

LINDEN – Just months before Officer Pedro Abad Jr. apparently drove the wrong way on the Staten Island Expressway and struck a tractor-trailer in an accident that killed two people, including another officer, he did not have a valid driver's license.

Abad's driver's license was suspended for 210 days on Oct. 16, 2013, following a Feb. 26, 2013, accident in Rahway in which he received violations for driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a chemical test, according to Elyse Coffey, Motor Vehicle Commission of New Jersey spokeswoman.

The suspension ended on May 14, 2014, when his driving privileges were restored, but the Rahway Municipal Court judge also required Abad to drive with an ignition interlocking device on his vehicle, used to measure a driver's breath alcohol content before the vehicle will start. Coffey said the 180-day period ended on Sept. 11, 2014.

It is unclear if, or how, Abad continued to work as a police officer during that time without a valid driver's license.

Police Capt. James Sarnicki said he could not comment on Abad's driver's license suspension.

"It's all part of our internal records," he said.

Since Sept. 11, 2014, Abad, who joined the Linden Police Department in January 2008, has had a valid New Jersey driver's license with no points, Coffey said.

But his driving record wasn't spotless before the Rahway accident. Coffey said Abad was involved in a Aug. 19, 2012, accident in Linden in which he received a violation for talking on a cellphone while driving.

Abad has been involved in eight accidents since Sept. 8, 2005, but Coffey noted that they are accidents in which an officer came out and filed a report. It is not known if Abad was the cause of any of those accidents, she said.

Fatal accident

Abad, 27, of Linden, was apparently driving his Honda Civic home around 5 a.m. March 20 after a night out at Curves Gentleman's Club in Staten Island with three passengers, Linden Police Officers Frank Viggiano and Patrik Kudlac, and Linden resident Joseph Rodriguez.

Abad apparently drove the wrong way on the Staten Island Expressway and collided head-on with a tractor-trailer. Rodriguez, 28, a front seat passenger, died at the scene. Viggiano, 28, a five-year veteran of the police department who was seated behind Rodriguez, died at the hospital a short time later. The truck driver, who was not seriously injured, has been released from the hospital.

Abad, a six-year police veteran, and Kudlac, 23, a two-year police veteran, remain hospitalized in Staten Island in critical but stable condition, Sarnicki said. They have both undergone surgery for some of their injuries.

New York City police have taken some of Abad's blood, but they have not released information about whether a request for a warrant to test the blood alcohol level has been approved or executed.

The funeral for Rodriguez was Wednesday morning at St. Elizabeth R.C. Church, 220 E. Blancke St., Linden, followed by an entombment at St. Gertrude's Cemetery in the Colonia section of Woodbridge.

Viggiano's funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Linden Presbyterian Church, 1506 Orchard Terrace, Linden, followed by interment at Fairview Cemetery, Fairview.

Social media posts are public

Besides his driving record, Abad's social media posts also are being questioned. Hours before the crash, he apparently posted a photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he identified as "Jack Daniels Fire on the house."

A message with the photo mentions he was with two others looking for a decent woman. The three off-duty officers and Rodriguez are unmarried. Abad's message also indicates his desire to settle down and have a family.

According to the most recent available data, Abad in 2013 earned nearly $90,000, not including overtime, after six years of service.

A review of Abad's Twitter messages over the past several months offer conflicting images. A recent post makes reference to dropping his cocaine in the snow. Other Twitter messages, in which Abad is pictured wearing his police uniform, reference prostitution, drinking and drugs. Other messages mention serving in the police honor guard for a New York City police officer shot in the line of duty and participating in former Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich's funeral.

Linden police have said they were caught off guard by the social media posts.

Most people realize their social media posts and profiles are public, but still, the act of engaging in social media is very personal, according to Mary Chayko, professor of communication and information at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University.

"It is experienced as very intimate and it often feels private, so it is easy to forget its public nature," said Chayko, who researches how people experience and are impacted by social media and Internet use.

Chayko said it's not that people in their 20s are unfiltered on social media, it's that they are in many cases as comfortable there as they are in physical environments.

"Most of their time on social media is spent with the same people that they hang out with face-to-face," she said. "They feel comfortable sharing many of the same kinds of things with them that they would share face-to-face. This is often ill-advised and can have unfortunate, even tragic, consequences, as happened in this terribly sad situation.

"But in the intimate moments of connecting with their friends, long-term consequences can be forgotten. This can apply to anyone using social media, from people in their teens and 20s to police officers to high-ranking government officials."

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