Crime & Safety
No Charges For Marlboro Cop In Chasing Driver Who Killed Local Dad: AG
The 2022 police pursuit in an attempted Marlboro car theft ended in a Route 9 crash that killed a Freehold dad driving home with his family.
MARLBORO, NJ — A state grand jury will not file criminal charges against a Marlboro police officer, who was pursuing a driver when that driver caused a fatal crash.
The crash on Nov. 9, 2022 killed 33-year-old Arturo Tlapa Luna of Freehold, who was driving home with his family early that morning when the driver hit their vehicle in Old Bridge, officials said. Members of his family were seriously injured.
Officials said that Marlboro Police Sergeant Gregory Arrone was pursuing the driver, Samuel Villar, for a suspected car theft but was not directly involved in the crash.
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On Jan. 8, 2024, jurors concluded no charge should be filed against Arrone, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
The nine-mile chase reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour, according to Platkin's office. There were few cars and no pedestrians along much of the route, the AG's office noted.
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Villar, of Somerset, was sentenced in December to 12 years in prison.
On the day of the crash, officials said, police began pursing Villar, as he and the other teenage boys in the car with him were wanted for questioning in an attempted car theft.
The car chase headed north up Rt. 9 into Old Bridge. Near the intersection of Spring Valley Road, police say Villar ran multiple red lights and collided with multiple vehicles.
Luna was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Members of his family in the car were treated at a local hospital for their injuries and survived.
State law requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct all investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.
More information about how fatal police encounters are investigated in New Jersey under the Independent Prosecutor Directive is posted on the Attorney General’s website.
Patch's Pat McDaniel and Carly Baldwin contributed to this article.
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