By: Richard L. Smith
A former Hillside police officer has been found guilty in connection with a deadly crash that claimed the lives of a married couple in Monmouth County nearly four years ago.
According to information released by Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago on Thursday, John P. McClave III, 38, of Toms River, was convicted by a jury of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide following a week-long trial.
The verdict was delivered in Ocean County Superior Court before Judge David M. Fritch.
The case had been transferred out of Monmouth County in November 2024 due to a potential conflict of interest.
Authorities said the fatal crash occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. on October 9, 2021, when Tinton Falls police officers and firefighters from the Wayside Fire Company were dispatched to a serious collision on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass.
When emergency responders arrived, they located two heavily damaged vehicles, a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by McClave and a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by Angel L. Acevedo Jr., 40, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Acevedo and his wife, Daniela Correia Salles, 35, suffered severe injuries in the crash and were both pronounced dead at the scene.
McClave was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
A detailed investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Serious Crash Analysis Response Team (SCART), the prosecutor’s office Fatal Accident Unit, and the Tinton Falls Police Department determined that McClave was driving recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances at the time of the collision.
Investigators concluded that McClave’s vehicle exited the Garden State Parkway lanes and continued forward without significantly slowing or changing direction.
Authorities said the truck struck an embankment, became airborne, and ultimately collided with the victims’ vehicle.
Officials also determined that McClave was on his way to work when the crash occurred.
Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.