Her Mercedes was badly damaged in the collision, and federal prosecutors allege she and her husband got a new one months later in a bribery scheme.
Sen. Bob Menendez’s then-girlfriend, now his wife, struck and killed a pedestrian in December 2018, newly revealed police records show.
Four months after the incident, Nadine Arslanian and Menendez, D-N.J., were allegedly given a new Mercedes as a gift as part of what federal prosecutors have described as a bribery conspiracy to cash in on Menendez’s power and influence. Police records indicate the fatal collision badly damaged Arslanian’s Mercedes.
The crash, which was first reported Wednesday by the Record newspaper of Bergen and The New York Times, happened on the night of Dec. 12, 2018, in the New Jersey town of Bogota.
Arslanian, who was not charged, told police she was driving on Main Street when a man later identified as Richard Koop “jumped on my windshield,” according to dashboard video obtained by NBC New York.
Koop was found lying in the road with “severe head trauma, bleeding from the back of his head, bleeding from the face, and possible fractured legs and arms” when police arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m., according to police records obtained by NBC News that also said the responding officer described Koop as unconscious and not breathing.
Arslanian was “bleeding from her hands” and had hit a parked car after she struck Koop, police records showed.
“Why was the guy in the middle of the street? I didn’t do anything wrong, you know?” she told police, according to the dashcam video.
Police also asked for Arslanian’s consent to search her cellphone.
“Ms. Arslanian originally reported I may search her phone, handed me her phone, then shortly after reported she no longer gives consent for a cellular phone search. I immediately returned Ms. Arslanian’s phone back to her,” one of the officers said in a report.
Police said Arslanian gave a statement saying that Koop “darted across traffic and jumped onto her vehicle” and that she said “she did not observe Mr. Koop prior to striking him with her vehicle."
Police found that Arslanian was not at fault and that “Mr. Koop was jaywalking and did not cross the street at an intersection or in a marked crosswalk.”
There is no indication in police records that Arslanian was tested for drugs or alcohol. It said she was released to “a friend” after police interviewed her.
Sheri Breen, a lawyer for the Koop family, alleged that Arslanian waited several minutes before she called 911. “She let him lie on the ground and she took some time to sit there watching before she backed up, moved her car again and then drove around him,” Breen told NBC New York.
Breen said Koop had gone out with friends and took an Uber ride home. “He just had to cross the street to get to his home when the defendant came barreling down the street and struck him,” Breen said.
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The part covering the crash seems like a true accident. The guy walked out into the street and she didn’t see him in time to stop.
What happened after with the new Mercedes is scummy though.
That is what she said, there is no corroboration in the article.
That is what she said.
This just says that he wasn’t in a crosswalk.
So, just took her word.
Not sure where this comes from, would be good to know what anyone else who was present said because the police just said “that’s what she told us”