NJ police kill people by car, bring body home, police say
A New Jersey police officer has been charged with vehicular homicide and desecrating human remains after he allegedly attacked and killed a man on the Garden State Parkway on November 1 in the city of Bloomfield and left the scene with the body in his vehicle, the Essex County Prosecutor’s office said Wednesday.
The officer, Louis Santiago, 25, from Bloomfield, was driving on his shoulder on the Parkway heading north at about 3 a.m. when he allegedly hit Damian Dymka, 29. Authorities said later while hitting Dymka, Santiago and his passenger, Albert Guzman. , 25 years old, left the scene, returning several times before loading the victim into the car. Authorities said they did not call 911 or attempt to assist the victim.
“Santiago subsequently took the body to his home in Bloomfield, where he, his mother and Guzman are said to have discussed what to do with the body,” the prosecutor’s office stated.
Authorities said the body was eventually returned to the scene. Santiago’s father, a Newark police lieutenant, called police to report that his son had been involved in an accident, authorities said.
When the New Jersey State Police arrived, authorities said, Dymka’s body was found in the back seat of Santiago’s car.
Annette Santiago, mother of Louis Santiago, and Guzman were all charged with conspiracy to destroy human remains, obstructing fear, and conspiracy to obstruct fear, and tampering with physical evidence. In addition to reckless murder and disposing of a body, Santiago is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death, endangering an injured victim, dismembering/moving human remains, and obstructing own fear, conspiracy to obstruct prosecution, tampering with material evidence, obstructing the administration of law, and two counts of official misconduct.
Louis Santiago, who joined the Newark Police Department in 2019, was suspended from work without pay on November 1, officials said.
The prosecutor’s office said all three have been released.
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