December 28, 2009

N.J. officer suspended after off-duty DWI crash

By Tom Quigley
Express-Times

ALLAMUCHY TWP., N.J. — A New Jersey State Police sergeant faces drunken-driving and other charges following a Dec. 17 two-vehicle crash on Route 517 north of Hackettstown, state police Capt. Gerald Lewis said Thursday.

Sgt. Steve Pelligra, 45, of Sussex County, was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, Lewis said. Pelligra is assigned to state police at Hope Township.

He was off duty and driving a Nissan Frontier pickup north on Route 517 when his vehicle crashed into the driver's side of a southbound 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Scott Lehnes, 40, of Vernon, N.J., said Lewis, who is based at state police headquarters in West Trenton, N.J.

The 10 p.m. crash occurred near Johnson Road just north of the Route 517 interchange on Interstate 80.

Pelligra fled after the crash, Lewis said.

The police sergeant was also charged with refusing to submit to an alcohol breath test, leaving the scene of a crash and failing to report a crash with injuries.

A person who is convicted for the first time of refusing to submit to a breath test faces a driver's license suspension between seven months and one year, according to the state Motor Vehicle Commission.

Details, including where Pelligra fled, who suffered injuries and the extent of those injuries were not immediately available from Lewis.

Pelligra could not be reached for comment. It was unknown if he had retained an attorney.

Another sergeant at the Hope Township barracks referred inquiries to the state police public information office at headquarters.