Lacey Police Officer Involved In Fatal Pedestrian Accident Back On The Road

by Patricia A. Miller

The Lacey Township police department will conduct an administrative review of a fatal pedestrian accident involving a police cruiser and a Toms River man, Police Chief David A. Paprota said.

“As per the Attorney General Guidelines on Internal Affairs, once the criminal investigation is concluded by the county prosecutor, the matter is returned to the Lacey Township Police Department for investigation into any possible violations of rules, regulations, or policies,” the chief said . “This is an administrative review, which is different than the criminal investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office.”

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office recently cleared Lacey Officer Andrew Slota of any wrongdoing in the early morning July 5 accident that took the life of Neil Van De Putte, 24, Toms River.

Slota returned to work last summer after he recovered from injuries he suffered in the accident, Paprota said.

Van De Putte, 24, Toms River, was attempting to cross Lacey Road on foot at 3:22 a.m. on July 5 when he was struck by the marked police cruiser. Slota was traveling at high rate of speed to respond to a report of a disturbance at the security perimeter of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant, Coronato said.

Slota did not activate the cruiser’s emergency lights or sirens, but the headlights were activated, he said.

Van De Putte was crossing Lacey Road on foot at the time of the collision and was struck in the roadway despite Officer Slota’s attempts to avoid him. He died as a result of the injuries, Coronato said.

“At the time of impact it is clear that Mr. Van De Putte, who was intoxicated, entered the roadway against a red traffic signal,” Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said. “Officer Slota proceeded into the intersection under a green traffic light. Mr.Van De Putte was accompanied by a friend, who observed the oncoming police vehicle and determined that he could not safely cross the roadway. A motorist who witnessed the accident confirmed that Officer Slota was proceeding under the green traffic signal, and that Mr. Van De Putte could not be avoided.”

The nearly six-month investigation included an ”exhaustive” crash scene analysis, Coronato said.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes/Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, the Toms River Police Department Traffic Safety Division and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI in investigated the accident, since it involved a Lacey police officer, Coronato said.

Van De Putte was a physics major and math minor at Drew University. He would have graduated in 2016 and maintained a 4.0 GPA. He was awarded the Marshall C. Harrington Prize in Physics and Astronomy for an outstanding physics research project before his death, according to his obituary on Legacy.com.