Prosecutor: Former Police Officer Convicted of Two Counts of Vehicular Homicide in Fatal 2021 Accident

A former police officer has been convicted at trial of vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal 2021 accident that killed two people, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.

Following a weeklong trial before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch, 38-year-old John P. McClave III, of Toms River, a former Hillside police officer, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide stemming from the fatal accident.

The case was transferred to Ocean County Superior Court on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, due to a potential conflict of interest.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in state prison, with 85 percent of the sentence to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA). McClave’s sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2026.

The accident details …

Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, Tinton Falls police and firefighters from the Wayside Fire Company responded to a report of a collision on Asbury Avenue in the area of the Garden State Parkway overpass.

Upon arrival, officers found the two involved vehicles: a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck, driven by McClave, and a 2020 Toyota Corolla, driven by 40-year-old Angel L. Acevedo, Jr. of Baltimore, MD.

Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, sustained multiple severe injuries and were both pronounced dead at the scene. McClave was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for treatment of serious but not life-threatening injuries.

An investigation by the Monmouth County Serious Crash Analysis Response Team (SCART), the MCPO Fatal Accident Unit, and the Tinton Falls Police Department determined that McClave was driving his vehicle recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances at the time of the collision. The investigation further determined that McClave’s vehicle did not change direction or slow down significantly after it left the Garden State Parkway lanes, resulting in his vehicle becoming airborne upon hitting an embankment, eventually striking the car occupied by the victims.

The investigation also revealed that McClave was on his way to work at the time of the crash.

The case is being handled by assistant prosecutors Joseph Cummings, director of the MCPO Narcotics and Criminal Enterprise Investigation Section, and Sarah Mielke, of the Special Victims Bureau. McClave is represented by Anthony Cherry, Esq., of Eatontown.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office