TOMS RIVER — An Ocean County man and former Hillside police officer has been sentenced to 17 years in New Jersey state prison for a 2021 crash that killed a married couple in Monmouth County, authorities announced.
John P. McClave III, of Toms River, was sentenced before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago. McClave received consecutive prison terms of 8½ years for each victim’s death.
Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, McClave must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
A jury convicted McClave on March 12 of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide. The case was moved to Ocean County Superior Court in November 2024 because of a potential conflict within the Monmouth County court system.
The crash happened shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2021, on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass in Tinton Falls.
Investigators said 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, were pronounced dead at the scene.
McClave was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said McClave was driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol and THC. His truck left the Garden State Parkway lanes, struck an embankment, became airborne and hit the victims’ car.
Prosecutor Santiago said the case shows the danger of impaired driving involving alcohol and marijuana.
“The impact that this incident had on our community is a reminder of the danger imposed when driving under the influence of intoxicating substances such as marijuana and alcohol,” Santiago said. “Such behavior cannot be accepted or tolerated.”
Investigators said McClave was on his way to work at the time of the crash.
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