Nadine Menendez, wife of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), struck and killed a pedestrian in December 2018 while driving her Mercedes.
Two businessmen who are co-defendants in the bribery charges involving the couple allegedly helped replace Menendez’s car with another Mercedes, Just the News reports.
Sen. Menendez's wife hit, killed pedestrian in 2018, co-defendant allegedly replaced Mercedes https://t.co/rUXknK1wop
— Just the News (@JustTheNews) October 5, 2023
Menendez was ruled “not at fault” for the incident that occurred on Main Street in Bogota, New Jersey.
Just the News reports:
The accident occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2018, in Bogota, N.J., and resulted in the near-instant death of 49-year-old Richard Koop outside of his apartment after he got out of an Uber, “The New York Times,” reported Wednesday.
Nadine Menendez, who started dating the senator in February 2018 and married him in October 2020, was “not at fault” for the crash, the Bogota Police Department report states, according to “The Bergen Record,” a local paper. “Mr. Koop was jaywalking and did not cross the street at an intersection or in a marked crosswalk.”
The 39-page indictment of Bob Menendez, Nadine Menendez and her friend, Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, and former New Jersey insurance broker Jose Uribe states that the senator’s then-future wife was “involved in a car accident in or about December 2018 that left her without a car” after her black Mercedes-Benz sedan was severely damaged in the collision.
According to Northjersey.com, the indictment says Hana “provided her with a 2019 Mercedez-Benz C-300 convertible.”
WATCH:
🚨Bob Menendez’s wife Nadine Arslanian hit and killed a man while driving her Mercedes in 2018
She was found "not at fault" for the incident because the man was jaywalking. She was not given a DUI test at the scene and was immediately allowed to leave after providing a statement pic.twitter.com/D7bpnBWQBC
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 5, 2023
Northjersey.com noted:
During the waning moments of Koop’s life, Arslanian is seen shivering in a dress and fur coat talking to the police in dashboard-camera video obtained by NorthJersey.com and The Record. Though the Bogota police report says the weather was clear, her breath is visible as she asks to speak with an attorney because she didn’t “want to say anything wrong.”
In the video, Arslanian asks officers why Koop was in the road and tells police that she “didn’t do anything wrong.”
The police let Arslanian, with the help of a friend, get some personal belongings out of her car. Though the friend isn’t visible, he can be heard talking to the police and acknowledges that he is a retired cop from Hackensack.
Arslanian, according to the police reports, also initially agreed to allow officers to search her phone, but took it back from them shortly thereafter. Arslanian also complained that her hands were injured.
The police records don’t show that any field sobriety tests were done. There is also no indication that she was questioned about drinking or using any kind of drugs.
When interviewed by police, she told them that Koop “ran across the roadway and jumped onto the hood” of her car.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigations were called in to assist. The county agencies documented, processed and photographed the evidence, according to an investigation report filed by Bogota Patrolman Kevin Geraghty on Feb. 25, 2019, more than two months after the crash.
Eyewitness News ABC7NY aired this video report:
As WLTReport reported, Bob and Nadine Menendez were indicted on federal charges of bribery and corruption.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!