New Jersey Investigators Are Probing Police Conduct In Fatal 2018 Car Crash Involving Bob Menendez’s Wife: REPORT

A unit of investigators from the New Jersey attorney general’s (AG) office is evaluating the way the police handled a case involving a fatal car collision and Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s wife, according to NBC News.

The New Jersey AG’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability (OPIA) investigators visited the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to inquire about the case and request documents on Thursday, two individuals with knowledge of the situation told NBC News. The investigation is reportedly just starting and it is looking into how the Bogota Police Department managed the scene where Menendez’s wife Nadine Menendez killed a 49-year-old man named Richard Koop in a car crash in December 2018.

Menendez’s wife fatally struck Koop while driving her black Mercedes at night and officials at the time ruled that she was not culpable and let her go, according to The New York Times. A witness alleged the police who questioned Menendez’s wife at the time seemed to be aware of who she was and treated her preferentially as a result.

The police reports suggest they did not test her for drugs or alcohol and there is speculation about whether Menendez tried to interfere on his wife’s behalf, according to the NYT.

“It is determined that at this time was not at fault for the motor vehicle crash and that Mr. Koop was jaywalking,” the Bogota Police Department sergeant reported the following day, according to the NYT.

Koop’s family seeks to understand if the police handled the scene properly, according to NBC.