Police Officer Sentenced In Accident That Killed Burlington County Woman

A Burlington Township police officer has been sentenced to four years in state prison in connection with an accident that resulted in the death of a woman who was a passenger in his car, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced.

Justin Rodriguez, 25, was sentenced on one count of second-degree vehicular homicide. Toxicology results showed Rodriguez had “consumed an excessive amount of alcohol in the hours leading up to the crash,” that killed 27-year-old Ariana Williams, of Florence, on Sept. 23, 2016. His blood alcohol content was above the legal limit.

He was driving his personal car at the time of the accident, and he was off-duty at the time. He had been an officer for 11 months at the time of the crash.

Williams was pronounced dead at the scene after Rodriguez lost control of the Acura Integra he was driving on West Front Street and hit a utility pole at about 2:10 a.m. There were no other passengers in the car.
Rodriguez was ejected from the car, and taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. He was discharged from the hospital three days later. He was arrested less than a month later.

“This was a criminal act, and like all criminal acts, this was senseless,” Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Assistant Prosecutor Thaddeus E. Drummond told the court. “There was no reason for those who loved Ariana – her friends and her family – to lose a daughter, a sister, a friend.”

For nearly an hour, Williams’s family members and friends spoke in court about the happiness she brought to their lives, and attempted to put into words the heartache her death has created.

“This last Father’s Day was the worst day of my life, because she was not there,” her father, Ronald, told the court.

“There is no sentence that could bring perfect justice to parents who lost a daughter, or a sister who lost her twin,” Coffina said. “What’s worse, Ariana’s death was entirely preventable. This defendant was a police officer. He more than anyone should have known the dangers and drinking and driving. Our hearts and prayers are with the Williams family, and with Ariana’s many friends, and we hope that today’s sentence can bring some measure of healing to them.”

Patch file photo