By: Richard L. Smith
RLS Media is sharing post-sentencing interviews from an attorney, an Essex County Asst. Prosecutor and the father of a man fatally struck by a car on the Garden State Parkway in 2001.
In Monday’s court proceeding, former Newark Police Officer Louis A. Santiago, 26, of Bloomfield, was sentenced to five years in prison for the tragic incident.
Santiago drove drunk and fatally struck Mr. Damian Dymka, 29, of Garfield, who was walking on the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway.
The tragic incident occurred on November 1, 2021, shortly before 3:00 a.m., when a 2005 Honda Accord driven by Santiago, who was off-duty and intoxicated, was traveling northbound on the Garden State Parkway near exit 151.
Santiago failed to maintain his lane and ended up driving on the right shoulder of the Garden State Parkway, resulting in the fatal collision with Damian Dymka.
In an attempt to cover up the crime, Santiago drove home with the victim's body still in his car.
Santiago had previously pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler to Reckless Vehicular Homicide, Desecrating Human Remains, Official Misconduct, and Driving Under the Influence in connection to the death of Dymka.
The sentence imposed Monday mandates that Santiago must serve five years without parole, followed by three years of post-release parole supervision upon his release.
Additionally, Santiago's father, Luis Santiago, a former lieutenant in the Newark Police Department, received a sentence of two years of probation for Obstructing the Administration of Law due to false statements he made to the New Jersey State Police during the early stages of the investigation.
Furthermore, Albert Guzman, Louis Santiago's cousin who was in the car with him during the crash, has been admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention diversionary program, which is conditioned on a plea related to a Conspiracy to Hinder Prosecution.