Bergen Man Admits Fault In Fatal Drunk-Driving Incident In Elizabeth: Prosecutor

A Bergen County man admitted to driving a top loader drunk and causing the death of his coworker at an Elizabeth marine terminal a little less than two years ago, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Thursday.

Victor M. Belo, 50, of North Arlington pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree vehicular manslaughter Wednesday in connection with the death of 49-year-old Judy Jones of Newark, before state Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch.

On the afternoon of Aug. 7, 2015, emergency medical personnel and members of the Port Authority Police Department responded to the APM terminal in Elizabeth to find Jones suffering from multiple severe injuries, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Colleen Ruppert, who prosecuted the case.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.

A joint investigation led by Port Authority Police Department Detective Robert Caron and also involving members of the Union County Homicide Task Force determined that Belo allegedly struck Jones with a top loader he had been driving while his blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit of 0.08 percent, having had several alcoholic beverages with lunch before returning to work that day, Ruppert said.

Belo turned himself in to police in August 2015 and he was lodged in Union County Jail on $75,000 bail.

The State will recommend a sentence of four years in state prison, with 85 percent of the term to be served before the possibility of parole, when Belo is sentenced in January 2018.

Reporting by Alexis Tarrazi

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