New Jersey

Cop Driving in Deadly Staten Island Crash Had BAC Three Times Legal Limit: Sources

The New Jersey police officer who hit a tractor-trailer head-on on a Staten Island highway last month, killing a fellow officer and a friend and critically injuring a third cop, had a blood alcohol content of .24 percent, three times the legal limit, law enforcement sources say. 

Authorities had obtained a warrant to test Pedro Abad Jr.'s blood-alcohol content following the March 20 wrong-way crash on the West Shore Expressway. 

The NYPD, who's investigating the crash, had no comment on the toxicology results. A message was left with the Linden police officers' union, and Abad's lawyer had no comment, saying only his client was in the process of hiring a new attorney. 

Abad, 27, was driving his fellow officers and friend on the wrong side of the expressway on the way back from a strip club when his vehicle slammed into the tractor-trailer, authorities said. 

Hours before the crash, Abad had posted a photo on his Instagram page of three shot glasses filled with what he identified as "Jack Daniels Fire on the house." Authorities said at the time it was "too premature" to speculate on what caused the accident. 

Public records show Abad has been involved in eight accidents since 2005 and has two arrests for drunken driving in the last four years.

Abad was hospitalized in critical condition following the crash, which killed fellow Linden officer Frank Viggiano and friend Joseph Rodriguez.

Patrik Kudlac, another Linden cop riding in Abad's Honda, was also hospitalized in critical condition after the crash. 

The Union County prosecutor's office has said it would hand off the probe into the driving record and employment history of Abad to avoid the perception of any conflicts of interest. The state attorney general's office said the investigation will be handled by the Middlesex County prosecutor's office.

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