A city police officer whose blood-alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit when he caused a 2007 car crash has given up his job after pleading guilty to assault by auto and other charges in the three-car collision, authorities said.
Rodney D. Sanders, a 40-year-old North Plainfield resident, pleaded guilty April 17 to third-degree assault by auto, driving while intoxicated and failure to exhibit a driver's license in connection with the crash on Route 22 in North Plainfield, according to
authorities.
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said in a statement that Sanders pleaded guilty 10 days after his motion to suppress an Alcotest reading of 0.23 percent — almost three times the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent — was denied by Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Sanders faces probation with 60 days in the Somerset County Jail, the loss of his license and registration for two years, 30 days of community service, 48 hours in the state Intoxicated Drivers Resource Center and fines, authorities said.
Sanders — a veteran city police officer with 19 years on the force — also forfeited his job upon pleading guilty, authorities said. His sentencing is scheduled for June 12.
"That's an issue he has to deal with, and he made a very poor decision to drive that night,'' city Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig said. "But we have to be held accountable for our actions — and that's the result.''
Authorities have said Sanders was intoxicated when he hit a pickup truck and car the night of July 31, 2007, while traveling eastbound on Route 22 near Wilson Avenue in North Plainfield. Sanders attempted to pass a 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Florida resident Joseph J. McKernan, who was traveling eastbound in the highway's left lane, police said.
Sanders, who was driving the same direction in a 1999 GMC Yukon Denali, struck the rear passenger side of McKernan's vehicle and then rear-ended Sherifat A. Kasunmu's 1995 Nissan Altima, which spun onto the lawn of the Red Tower II restaurant, according to police.
Kasunmu, of Newark, was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for back and neck pain while Sanders and McKernan declined treatment at the scene.
The night of the wreck, Sanders was arrested by North Plainfield police on a drunken driving charge after failing a field sobriety test and registering the high blood-alcohol level, authorities said. The assault by auto charge was added after an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team.
Sanders, who is free on bail, had been suspended without pay since the wreck.
Rodney D. Sanders, a 40-year-old North Plainfield resident, pleaded guilty April 17 to third-degree assault by auto, driving while intoxicated and failure to exhibit a driver's license in connection with the crash on Route 22 in North Plainfield, according to
authorities.
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said in a statement that Sanders pleaded guilty 10 days after his motion to suppress an Alcotest reading of 0.23 percent — almost three times the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent — was denied by Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Sanders faces probation with 60 days in the Somerset County Jail, the loss of his license and registration for two years, 30 days of community service, 48 hours in the state Intoxicated Drivers Resource Center and fines, authorities said.
Sanders — a veteran city police officer with 19 years on the force — also forfeited his job upon pleading guilty, authorities said. His sentencing is scheduled for June 12.
"That's an issue he has to deal with, and he made a very poor decision to drive that night,'' city Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig said. "But we have to be held accountable for our actions — and that's the result.''
Authorities have said Sanders was intoxicated when he hit a pickup truck and car the night of July 31, 2007, while traveling eastbound on Route 22 near Wilson Avenue in North Plainfield. Sanders attempted to pass a 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Florida resident Joseph J. McKernan, who was traveling eastbound in the highway's left lane, police said.
Sanders, who was driving the same direction in a 1999 GMC Yukon Denali, struck the rear passenger side of McKernan's vehicle and then rear-ended Sherifat A. Kasunmu's 1995 Nissan Altima, which spun onto the lawn of the Red Tower II restaurant, according to police.
Kasunmu, of Newark, was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for back and neck pain while Sanders and McKernan declined treatment at the scene.
The night of the wreck, Sanders was arrested by North Plainfield police on a drunken driving charge after failing a field sobriety test and registering the high blood-alcohol level, authorities said. The assault by auto charge was added after an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team.
Sanders, who is free on bail, had been suspended without pay since the wreck.
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