An Essex County man has admitted to driving drunk and causing a two-vehicle crash that left one woman dead and two others seriously injured, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Tuesday.
Authorities said Patrick Colombo, 29, of Irvington pleaded guilty Monday before state Superior Court Judge William Daniel to charges including second-degree vehicular homicide, third-degree assault by auto, fourth-degree assault by auto, and driving while intoxicated.
According to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Armando Suarez, who prosecuted the case, at approximately 1:20 a.m. on June 25, 2016, Colombo suddenly crossed his BMW sedan over double-yellow lines and into oncoming traffic on Manor Drive near Westminster Drive in Union Township and collided head-on with a vehicle with three occupants, all on their way home from work.
The front passenger of the vehicle that was struck, 66-year-old Marie Alectine of Irvington, died from multiple internal injuries in a local hospital two days later, Suarez said. The vehicle’s other two occupants suffered injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones and knee ligament damage. Colombo sustained a leg injury.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Friday, March 23, 2018 before Judge Daniel, at which time the state will request a sentence of six years in state prison, with at least 85 percent of that term to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.