A veteran police sergeant will forfeit his job after being sentenced for an alcohol-related motor vehicle collision that injured another motorist late last year, acting Union County Prosecutor Jennifer Davenport announced Wednesday.
According to Union County officials, Sayreville Police Department Sgt. Jeffrey Kutz was also sentenced to a prison term of 180 days, which will be suspended until a December court hearing scheduled to evaluate whether he has adhered to the conditions of his probation.
The case was heard in Middlesex County Superior Court but handled by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office after being transferred due to a conflict according to officials.
According to authorities, on Tuesday, December 18, 2018, Kutz, a 22-year veteran of his Department, was driving his pickup truck on U.S. Route 9 South in Old Bridge when he collided with two vehicles, a dump truck and a sedan, that was parked on the shoulder.
The driver of the sedan was entrapped in his vehicle and airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment. Kutz was subsequently charged with third-degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated, and reckless driving, and was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.
Kutz pleaded guilty to the assault and DWI charges earlier this year.
He was also ordered to serve three years of probation, had his license suspended for seven months, and will be required to have an ignition interlock device on his vehicle for a period of 12 months.