NJ police officer sentenced in DUI crash that killed spouses

🚔 Ex-Hillside police officer is sentenced to 17 years in prison for a DUI crash that killed a couple.

⚖️ Prosecutors said the officer’s pickup flew off the Garden State Parkway before smashing into another car below.

💔 The victims were an accomplished Maryland couple with careers in engineering, medicine and the U.S. Army.

A police officer who killed a married couple in a DWI crash has been sent to prison.

On Friday, John P. McClave III was sentenced to 17 years — eight-and-a-half for each victim — by Superior Court Judge David Fritch sitting in Toms River. The 38-year-old McClave must serve more than 14 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Former NJ police officer sentenced in deadly Monmouth County DUI crash

An Ocean County jury found McClave guilty in March of two counts of vehicular homicide.

On Oct. 9, 2021, around 7:30 p.m., Tinton Falls Police and the Wayside Fire Co. were called to a crash on Asbury Avenue, just below the Garden State Parkway overpass.

McClave had been headed to his job in Union County with the Hillside Police Department when his 2018 GMC Canyon pickup sailed off the Parkway and down an embankment.

Below, it crashed into a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by 40-year-old Angel L. Acevedo, Jr.

Acevedo’s wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, was a passenger and both died from their injuries.

Prosecutor says pickup flew off Parkway before deadly impact

Police said the pickup truck did not change direction or slow down significantly after it left the Parkway.

Initial charges against McClave included having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.

Parkway over Asbury Avenue in Tinton Falls (Google Maps)

Victims remembered as accomplished professionals and devoted couple

The Maryland couple was remembered as soulmates.

Acevedo grew up in New Jersey before moving to Baltimore as an engineer with the U.S. Army.

Before his move to Baltimore, Acevedo grew up in Atlantic Highlands and went to Henry Hudson Regional School.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Dartmouth College, followed by a master’s degree from Naval Postgraduate School, according to the couple’s obituary.

Acevedo was ultimately appointed as chief of Mission Network Communications at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Salles became a doctor in her native Brazil before moving to the United States and attending Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“The impact that this incident had on our community is a reminder of the danger imposed when driving under the influence of intoxicating substances such as marijuana and alcohol. Such behavior cannot be accepted or tolerated.” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in a written statement on Thursday.