Video Shows Menendez's Wife Asking For Lawyer After Car Killed NJ Man

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Video posted online shows the aftermath of a 2018 crash in which Sen. Robert Menendez's then-girlfriend hit a dad who was crossing a Bergen County street on a December night, killing him.

Nadine Arslanian, who lived in Englewood Cliffs at the time, was indicted on Sept. 22, along with her now-husband, the senator, for accepting bribes including cash and a Mercedes Benz convertible.

New details in the media this week revealed that Arslanian needed the car because her own Mercedes had been destroyed in a fatal accident months earlier.

Little had been reported about the crash, but new reports say the man who was killed was a Bogota father of one who was getting out of an Uber near his home that night.

The family of the deceased man — who was a beloved dad and uncle, according to his obituary — told the New York Times that they were suspicious of the "one-sided" investigation of the crash that followed.

And family and friends described him as an excellent father to his son, and a good friend.

'My buddy's wife'

In video posted with enhanced audio this week by the New Jersey Herald, Arslanian is heard telling police, "He jumped on my windshield," and repeatedly saying she needs to speak with an attorney.

A man identifying himself as a retired Hackensack police officer comes on the scene and tells a police officer that Arslanian is "My buddy's wife."

He says his buddy had asked him to come out and help. He asks whether the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office will be involved.

The officer responds that they are investigating because of the nature of what happened, not necessarily because Arslanian is in trouble.

The Times story identifies the "buddy" as Menendez.

Arslanian was not drug-tested or charged in the crash, according to news reports.

A Message With A Heart

In 2019, according to the Sept. 22 indictment, businessman Jose Uribe — whom Arslanian had introduced to Menendez at one point, and who has been indicted along with the couple — agreed to finance s new car for Arslanian if the senator did him a favor.

According to the indictment, the senator intervened to try to have a New Jersey-based insurance fraud investigation of Uribe's employee resolved favorably.

"In exchange for the promise of the luxury convertible, Menendez contacted a senior state prosecutor at the NJ AG’s Office who supervised the prosecution and investigation (“Official-2”) at least twice," the indictment states. "During those communications, Menendez attempted to pressure Official-2 to resolve the prosecution more favorably to the defendant. Official-2 considered Menendez’s actions inappropriate and did not agree to intervene."

Months later, Arslanian had her replacement Mercedes, and texted a photograph to Menendez with a little heart.

The indictment notes that during a search of the couple's home, "The FBI found many of the fruits of this bribery scheme, including cash, gold, the luxury convertible, and home furnishings. Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe."

The indictment says, "In exchange for Menendez’s actions, Uribe provided Nadine Menendez with $15,000 cash for the down payment on the luxury convertible in April 2019. After the purchase was complete, Nadine Menendez messaged Menendez, 'Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes.❤️” and texted Menendez [a] photograph of the
convertible. Thereafter, Uribe made monthly payments to Mercedes-Benz for the convertible between 2019 and June 2022."

Uribe stopped making payments after the FBI began investigating and asking questions, the indictment says.

The couple married in October 2020, the indictment says.

PRIOR REPORTING: Menendez Struck, Killed Bergen County Man With Her Car: Reports