Prosecutor's office will not file criminal charges in deadly pedestrian crash
CAMDEN COUNTY., NJ. (FOX 29) - The Camden County Prosecutor's Office says they will not criminally charge the county police officer who struck and killed a 17-year-old girl back Feb. 13.
Nerreada Robles, a Woodrow Wilson High School senior, was walking to her friend's house when she was struck by the police SUV at East State Street and Harrison Avenue.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office says they conducted an extensive investigation but found there was "insufficient evidence to prove an allegation on criminal conduct on the part of the officer beyond a reasonable doubt."
"I literally started crying and I got mad," says Yanysia Rodriguez, Nerreada's older sister. "Especially knowing that we're going through now, it made it a lot worse on top of that."
Robles' family attorney, Jeff Fritz, is now calling on the Attorney General's Office to take over and reinvestigate.
He says he obtained the prosecutor's office report and it states that the officer involved in the crash was driving 57 miles per hour, more than double the speed limit at the time of the crash, without sirens on, to respond to a call of a homeless man sleeping in a McDonald's right across from the Camden County Police Department.
He also saw the surveillance video of the crash, obtained by FOX 29, which appears to show the police SUV driving at a high rate of speed.
"It's just shocking the speed at which this officer was responding," says Fritz. "The type of call that it had been coded at the time, he was not warranted to recklessly drive through the streets of Camden."
Fritz says the report states that the officer involved received two tickets after the crash for careless driving and failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
He also wants the Attorney General's Office to show the evidence to a grand jury to determine whether or not the officer should be indicted. Citing a new law that went into effect days before the crash, Fritz says the prosecutor's office did not follow the legislative mandate.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office says they plan to respond to Fritz' letter, but they will not comment further.
Camden County police say the officer involved is still on paid administrative leave as they conduct their own internal investigation.