Following a court-ordered arbitration hearing held today, Lakewood taxpayers are on the hook for $100,000 in damages due to a crash caused by Traffic Safety Officer Alex Guzman.
In 2023, Traffic Safety Officer Alex Guzman earned a base salary of $146,879.72. Combined with his overtime, off-duty earnings, and emergency off-duty earnings, his total salary climbed to $309,299.61, making him the guy with the highest total salary.
As the news was very first broken here on FAA News, back in July 2023, the Lakewood Police Department was slammed with a lawsuit due to a crash caused by Guzman.
According to the Complaint filed in New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County by Cherry Hill Attorney Mark S. Guralnick, Esq.:
On July 26, 2021, Little Egg Harbor resident Shirley Darbo was driving on New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood approaching the intersection with Route 70. As she approached the intersection, the traffic light was green, in her favor, and so she proceeded to drive across Route 70.
Officer Guzman, driving an unmarked police car and using his cell phone at the time of the accident, was speeding eastbound on Route 70 and, at the intersection with New Hampshire Avenue, he drove through a red light at a high rate of speed and struck Darbo's vehicle, which caused her to sustain serious injuries.
He was knowingly and recklessly speeding when there was no need for such urgency at a busy Township intersection; and he knowingly and recklessly failed to ensure that other traffic, including cross- traffic on New Hampshire Avenue, had come to a stop before proceeding through the intersection.
The serious injuries from the crash have caused her to sustain "permanent loss of earnings, and has incurred or in the future will incur expenses for treatment of said injuries in excess of the applicable threshold, has been caused and in the future will be caused great pain and suffering, has been deprived and in the future will be deprived of her right to the enjoyment of life to her great loss and damage."
The Police Department and the Township, have as a matter of public policy and practice with deliberate indifference, failed to adequately hire, train, retain, supervise, discipline, sanction or otherwise direct their police officers in their respective duties, and to the requirements mandated by law and applicable to this and similar situations at the scene in this case, regarding the protection of the constitutional rights of citizens, and more importantly wholly failed to take appropriate corrective and remedial actions with regard to Constitutional abuses based upon past occurrences and acts and omissions of the individual officers and the Department as a whole.
Such policy, practice and deliberate indifference has served to sanction the police officers’ unlawful conduct as described above and was a proximate cause of the violations of Plaintiff’s rights on the date of the occurrence complained of.
The lawsuit seeks for damages, together with pre- judgment and post-judgment interest and attorney’s fees.
The Township retained Attorney Ian Goldman Esq. of Levin Shea Pfeffer and Goldman, P.A. to defend the police department and Officer Guzman in this matter.
Following an arbitration proceeding held today in court, at which the judge reviewed the medical examination report and bills and conceded that the crash was caused by Officer Guzman using his cell phone while speeding through a red light with flashing lights but no siren, the plaintiff was awarded $100,000 in damages.
The parties have 30 days to reject the award and request a trial instead.
Township officials have not yet indicated whether any police department policies and procedures will be reviewed as a result of this crash and arbitration award.
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2 comments:
$310,000 earnings for a policeman for one year. People should know that amounts to a total $600,000 per year compensation package when you include all the finge benefits.
He's the most corrupt of all of them.
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