OCEAN COUNTY — A former Hillside police officer, who lives in Toms River, was convicted by a jury of killing two people in a 2021 motor vehicle crash in Monmouth County, prosecutors said.
John P. McClave III, 38, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide following a weeklong trial before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.
The case had been moved to Ocean County Superior Court on November 13, 2024, because of a potential conflict of interest.
Authorities said the crash happened shortly before 7:30 p.m. on October 9, 2021, on Asbury Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass in Tinton Falls. Police and firefighters responding to the scene found two vehicles involved: a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by McClave and a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by Angel L. Acevedo Jr., 40, of Baltimore.
Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, suffered severe injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to prosecutors. McClave was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center with serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Investigators said McClave had been driving recklessly and was under the influence of intoxicating substances when the collision occurred. A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Serious Crash Analysis Response Team, the prosecutor’s office Fatal Accident Unit and Tinton Falls police found that McClave’s truck left the Garden State Parkway lanes without significantly slowing or changing direction, became airborne after striking an embankment and then slammed into the victims’ car.
Prosecutors also said McClave was on his way to work when the crash happened.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Joseph Cummings, director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics and Criminal Enterprise Investigation Section, and Sarah Mielke of the Special Victims Bureau. McClave is represented by Anthony Cherry of Eatontown.
McClave faces up to 20 years in state prison. Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, he must serve 85% of any sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for May 8, 2026.
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