STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After being booked at the 120 Precinct stationhouse in St. George, Linden Police Officer Pedro Abad was taken to state Supreme Court to be arraigned in connection with a deadly wrong-way crash on the West Shore Expressway in March.
Abad was taken out the rear entrance of the stationhouse on crutches and placed into a waiting SUV. He was accompanied by three NYPD detectives.
After arriving at court, detectives helped Abad out of the back seat and into a wheelchair. He was then wheeled through the side handicap entrance of the court house. He didn't say anything.
Detectives barked at news photographers to get out of the way as a few media members momentarily blocked the defendant's path to the entrance.
Abad will be arraigned in connection with the crash Monday morning.
A grand jury recently indicted Abad in connection with the March 20 crash, a source familiar with the investigation said. The charges will likely include vehicular manslaughter, the source said.
Abad's blood-alcohol level was allegedly three times New York's legal limit when he slammed head-on into a tractor-trailer. He had departed from Curves, a nearby strip club in Charleston, according to authorities, and used the Arthur Kill Road exit to drive onto the wrong side of the expressway, authorities said.
The wreck killed two of Abad's passengers, Joseph Rodriguez, 28, and Linden Police Officer Frank Viggiano, 28. A third passenger, Linden Police Officer Patrik Kudlac, 23, was critically injured in the crash, but later released from the hospital.