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Officer behind wheel in fatal wrong-way crash had DUI in ’13

Police investigate the crash scene between a truck and a car carrying four people in the Staten Island borough of New York, Friday, March 20, 2015. The car, driving the wrong way and carrying three off-duty officers with the Linden, N.J. police department, crashed into the truck, killing one officer and another person and leaving two other officers critically injured, officials said. The truck driver was treated for injuries that weren't considered to be life-threatening. (AP Photo/Staten Island Advance, Irving Silverstein) MANDATORY CREDIT
Police investigate the crash scene between a truck and a car carrying four people in the Staten Island borough of New York, Friday, March 20, 2015. The car, driving the wrong way and carrying three off-duty officers with the Linden, N.J. police department, crashed into the truck, killing one officer and another person and leaving two other officers critically injured, officials said. The truck driver was treated for injuries that weren't considered to be life-threatening. (AP Photo/Staten Island Advance, Irving Silverstein) MANDATORY CREDIT Police investigate the crash scene between a truck and a car carrying four people in the Staten Island borough of New York, Friday, March 20, 2015. The car, driving the wrong way and carrying three off-duty officers with the Linden, N.J. police department, crashed into the truck, killing one officer and another person and leaving two other officers critically injured, officials said. The truck driver was treated for injuries that weren't considered to be life-threatening. (AP Photo/Staten Island Advance, Irving Silverstein) MANDATORY CREDIT

By Associated Press 1 min read

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Officials say an off-duty New Jersey police officer behind the wheel of a car involved in a New York City wrong-way crash that killed another officer and a friend previously had his driver’s license suspended for driving under the influence.

Motor Vehicle Commissioner spokeswoman Elyse Coffey says Linden Officer Pedro Abad had his license suspended for seven months starting Oct. 16, 2013.

A judge had found Abad was driving under the influence in Rahway and had refused to submit to a chemical test.

Abad was also cited in 2012 for using a cellphone while driving.

Abad was driving Friday when he, two other officers and a friend crashed into a tractor-trailer in Staten Island.

Abad remains in critical but stable condition. Investigators have applied for a warrant to test Abad’s blood-alcohol level.