FREEHOLD, N.J. — A former Hillside police officer has been convicted in connection with a 2021 crash that killed two people in Monmouth County, prosecutors announced Thursday.
John P. McClave III, 38, of Toms River, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide following a weeklong trial before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, the case was transferred to Ocean County Superior Court in November 2024 due to a potential conflict of interest.
The fatal crash occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2021, when Tinton Falls police and the Wayside Fire Company responded to a collision on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass.
Investigators determined that McClave was driving a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck when it collided with a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by Angel L. Acevedo Jr., 40, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, suffered severe injuries and were both pronounced dead at the scene.
McClave was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said the investigation found McClave was driving recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances at the time of the crash. Detectives determined his vehicle left the Garden State Parkway lanes and did not slow down or significantly change direction before striking an embankment.
The truck then became airborne before crashing into the victims’ vehicle, according to investigators.
Officials also said McClave was on his way to work at the time of the collision.
The investigation was conducted by the Monmouth County Serious Crash Analysis Response Team (SCART), the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Unit, and the Tinton Falls Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Joseph Cummings, director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics and Criminal Enterprise Investigation Section, and Sarah Mielke of the Special Victims Bureau. McClave is represented by Anthony Cherry, an attorney based in Eatontown.
