By: Richard L. Smith
A former Hillside police officer has been sentenced to 17 years in New Jersey state prison for a 2021 drunk-driving crash that killed a husband and wife in Monmouth County, prosecutors announced Thursday.
According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, John P. McClave III, of Toms River, was sentenced before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch on Friday following his conviction on two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide.
McClave received consecutive sentences of 8½ years for each victim, totaling 17 years in prison. Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), he must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
A jury found McClave guilty on Thursday, March 12, after a trial that had been transferred to Ocean County Superior Court in November 2024 to avoid any potential conflict of interest within the Monmouth County court system.
The charges stem from a deadly collision that occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. on October 9, 2021, on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass in Tinton Falls.
Authorities said officers arriving at the scene found a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by McClave and a 2020 Toyota Corolla operated by 40-year-old Angel L. Acevedo Jr., of Baltimore, Maryland.
Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, suffered severe injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.
McClave was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
An investigation 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 determined that McClave had been driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol and THC at the time of the crash.
Investigators said McClave’s truck exited the Garden State Parkway lanes without significantly slowing down or changing direction. The vehicle then struck an embankment, became airborne, and crashed into the victims’ vehicle.
Prosecutor Santiago said the tragedy serves as a reminder of the dangers of impaired driving.