Last month, an off-duty New Jersey police officer killed two of his friends when he collided with a tractor-trailer while going the wrong way on a Staten Island highway. It's now come out that Officer Pedro Abad, Jr. had a blood alcohol content of .24 percent at the time of the crash, which is three times the legal limit.
Abad, 27, crashed his Honda Civic into the trailer-tractor in the early hours of March 20th, following a night out partying with his friends. Fellow off-duty officer Frank Viggiano, 27, was killed in the crash, as was civilian Joseph Rodriguez, 28. Another off-duty officer, 23-year-old Patrik Cudlac, was hospitalized in critical condition, as was Abad.
Cops obtained a warrant to test Abad's blood alcohol content, and sources told NBC News that his BAC was three times the legal limit.
Abad had been involved in eight driving-related incidents before March 20th's fatal crash, and two of those allegedly involved alcohol, although one from 2011 was dismissed. The second incident, which occurred in 2013, was caught on dash cam video, capturing an incoherent Abad failing a sobriety test. His license was suspended after the incident, but was reinstated in 2014.
