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Subscribe to RSSTwo state troopers have been suspended over allegations they provided an “unauthorized escort” to a group of sports cars -- including one driven by football star Brandon Jacobs -- driving at high speeds in New Jersey.
The convoy of cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and others, traveled at speeds in excess of 100 mph down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City last month, according to The Star-Ledger newspaper. They also traveled on the New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City Expressway.
The paper said witnesses had made complaints to police about the caravan -- which one witness dubbed "Death Race 2012" -- saying they saw patrol cars with emergency lights flashing at the front and rear of the sports cars.
The Star-Ledger also obtained amateur video footage of a caravan of luxury cars allegedly being escorted by state police at high speed on the Garden State Parkway in 2010. It is not known which officers were involved in this convoy.
Watch video of a 2010 convoy obtained by The Star-Ledger (video contains offensive language):
A statement released late Monday by the attorney general’s office said Sgt. First Class Nadir Nassry, 47, a trooper for 25 years, and Trooper Joseph Ventrella, 28, who has six years’ service, had been suspended without pay in relation to the incident last month.
An unnamed station commander was also transferred “until any potential involvement on his part has been determined,” the statement said.
“We will not tolerate any conduct by a member of the State Police that puts the public in jeopardy, as this unauthorized caravan had the potential to do,” Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said, according to the statement. “We are thoroughly investigating this incident, and those responsible will face serious discipline."
Lt. Stephen Jones, a spokesman for the state police, said investigators would be looking to see if there were any incidents in addition to the one last month and the one in 2010.
“You better believe they are looking hard to see if there are any more; they are certainly checking that,” he told msnbc.com.
Charles Sciarra, an attorney representing Nassry, said in an email that state police officials had canceled a scheduled interview with his client and "simply suspended him without pay."
"This change of course was taken only after tabloid-like headlines appeared on the cover of Star Ledger over the last two days. The headlines scream 'Death Race 2012' when in fact these charitable organizations routinely ask and receive escorts from the State Police to and from the various charitable functions they attend with their exotic vehicles," Sciarra said. "This practice has been in effect for years."
PFT: 'We are thoroughly investigating this incident'
He added that "allegations of recklessness and speeds in the triple digits will not bear out" regarding the escort in question.
"We hope that the powers that be will take a breath, exhale and engage in a fair investigative process with which we will continue to cooperate. Either way, we will not permit Sgt. Nassry to be sacrificed to satisfy a public-relations agenda," Sciarra said.
Jacobs unaware
Jacobs’ agent, Justin Schulman, confirmed that his client, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers, went to Atlantic City on the day in question, March 30.
But, he said, "Brandon wasn't aware the escort was authorized or unauthorized."
The Star-Ledger reported that Michael Breen, a founding member of an elite New York City group of sports car enthusiasts called Driving Force Club, wrote on Facebook about a “very fun” run with Jacobs. He appeared in a photo with Jacobs, who was wearing a blue vest with a New Jersey State Police emblem, The Star-Ledger found.
The paper quoted Gov. Chris Christie as saying he “just shook my head” when he heard about the allegations.
"What are you going to do? It’s a completely ridiculous story. Shouldn’t have happened. Dumb thing to do, but let me assure you it’s not the last dumb thing we’ll see happen," Christie told a crowd at a bill-signing event in Newark.
"People are human beings," he added. "They make mistakes. Those people who made this mistake should be held accountable, and I’m sure they will. And I’m glad nobody got hurt."
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Leave a Comment:
Just to show you that in N.J. no one is above the law
Unless you're flying in the governors helicopter..
Oh Snap!
Lol, it's kinda funny how this article states all of these vehicles were traveling @ 100+ mph, then the evo shows it's tach.
which looking at it shows them traveling at 85 90 tops and catching up to that porsche.
I dunno, if you ask me I've seen the Evo doing more illegal maneuvers than any one of those vehicles on the road, between almost rear ending the ferrari and cutting off the 430 and then laughing about it. on top of speeding through traffic. you be the judge. I think the media is blowing this one out of proportion.
My thoughts exactly on the Evo driver being the only real threat in the video. The folks in the big expensive cars that have evidently offended so many people on this forum only gave them the juice when they had room to do so. I did not see other drivers reacting angrily or honking horns, probably because they were checking their email and Facebook accounts on phones instead of watching traffic!
Agree fully!
Driving Force Club website: http://www.drivingforceclub.com
This is on their main page:
This is on their forum page:
Dollars to donuts these officers did not do this without authorization from higher up. Why would they risk (by chance) being seen by (or reported to) someone in their chain of command unless they believed they had cover?
We need to know the membership of this club and whether it includes any (esp. New Jersey) government officials. Would anyone like to speculate if Gov. Christie is friends with any of the members?
I've received a few escorts at high speeds...they always ended the same way, unhappily!
And I get a ticket for speeding ? This is bull @!$%# !! Somebody needs to be fired.
A lot of times cops give speeding tickets because you did something unsafe while speeding (personal experience). I've had officers pass me up going 15mph over the limit and just look in my car then keep moving because someone ahead of me was zipping in and out of traffic (granted you generally slow down when they give you the look)
I can tell you exactly how Gov. Christie will respond; he'll be all in your face telling you that's how things are done so quit your bit--ing and get over it.
Oh the horror! When will Americans be taught to drive like the Europeans on the Autobahn? Speed does not kill but lazy distracted drivers do!
Exactly, and be courteous enough to get out of the left lane.
That is one cool video those guys shot. They got caught, but next time...
This has nothing to do with being "privileged". Anyone with a job that takes brains gets paid enough to buy a Porsche or Ferrari, or Jag. I wish I was there with my Jag XKR, what a blast, we down here in Florida have to do it alone and risk a ticket, but on some stretches we can do 160! 100 is for girls, except Danica.
"This change of course was taken only after tabloid-like headlines appeared on the cover of Star Ledger over the last two days. The headlines scream 'Death Race 2012' when in fact these charitable organizations routinely ask and receive escorts from the State Police to and from the various charitable functions they attend with their exotic vehicles," Sciarra said. "This practice has been in effect for years."
I don't understand how everyone can automatically jump to the worst conclusions possible!? There are absolutely NO facts listed in this article that would allow you to determine that these people were speeding in excess of 100MPH other than witness statements which mean either the witness themselves were traveling that fast (not likely due to limiters on a lot of modern cars) or they were guessing which is up to the persons perception.
From the video, it doesn't seem they were going much faster than the flow of traffic most of the time (unless every car on the freeway was in this "DeathRace"). You can ask the same person the same question about relative things like this and end up with two separate answers for the same exact speed difference given environmental and emotional differences. The highest i saw in the video looked to be around 85 (maybe higher, the speedometer shot was shaky) which although incredibly fast and likely illegal under normal circumstances is not by itself dangerous. It seems they gunned it for a couple of seconds then let off (again by watching the video) so it didn't seem that was the norm for the whole trip. The most dangerous behavior I saw in the video was the guy trying to keep up with the other cars. The other drivers may have been given instruction by the officers prior to the drive on what to do and not to do during the trip, but this guy saw it and thought it would be fun to jump in and out of the group, and was OBVIOUSLY too emotionally charged to make rational judgements.
people pay the state/local law enforcement all the time for security details for movies, concerts, escorting heavy equipment (where they actually block off public roads) and so on. The only safety problem I see here is they didn't have enough cars to move them through traffic given the size of the convoy.
That's just my opinion. I don't even care if it was for a charitable event as long as the dollars to pay for the escort came from the pockets related to the event rather than normal local funds.
Ron Masters......you said:
Whether they were speeding or not is mostly irrelevant. That would simply be (potential) injury added to insult. It is the fact they were being escorted (aka protected) by police officers that matters.
What should Americans say if, for example, President Obama (or anyone in his administration) authorized our military's fighter planes to escort the private jets of his friends (across airspace restricted to everyone else)?
Don't they do that now for O's chronies?
Same thing I said above. As long as they are paying for the true expense of it rather than it coming from tax dollars, good for them. That's my primary concern. If they were on the way to a charity event, then I probably wouldn't mind so much because that's a lot of combined money and the event would probably be sponsored in some part by law enforcement and the cars and the athletes in them would likely be the draw for the spectators which would raise money for the (hopefully) worthy cause and put money back into the community at some point I'd expect.
If they were all going to the beach and wanted an escort and can afford to pay for the officer's time and expenses along with whatever additional fees the state government in this case would levy, I don't see a problem with it. Entertainers are escorted all the time from place to place so if your problem is only with that part of this, then there's a MUCH bigger pool of incidents you should be complaining about in addition to this one.
Ron Masters......
Your comment is replete with: "As long as" and "If". It seems you are predisposed to dismiss (even condone) such behavior.
Interestingly, your ONLY Newsvine comments are those in this thread and about this particular subject. We must wonder if you have more than a passing interest (perhaps personal) in this misbehavior. Of course, that would explain your attempts to minimize the significance of the misbehavior which led to the suspensions.
Obviously, you are unlikely to confess any conflicts of interest regarding this matter.
One other (even more) interesting curiosity Ron Masters:
The Ron Masters Newsvine account was created in November of 2008. Yet, it has been completely dormant until now (nearly 4 years later). Why is it that, after four years of inactivity, this (and ONLY this) PARTICULAR news article so piqued the interest of Ron Masters?
Feel free to offer explanation for these curious facts. Any should be, at least, entertaining.
Good, They should have been fired.
What happened if the State Troopers in question, who are members of a union, hit a construction worker, a fellow union member, who works in a zone marked to alert motorists to paying twice the normal fine for speeding in a construction zone? In New Jersey, the entire highway system seems to be always under construction. It is remarkable that these cops and their privileged clients did not enter and exit a construction zone at high speeds. If they did, would the clients have to pay twice the rate for speeding in a construction zone? Or because they are rich and famous and are with are alleged public safety officers, they get a free pass? And guys like Governor Christie wonder why Americans are always pissed off!
I understand the danger and the failure to obtain a legal escort. Other than that, what is the big deal. Here in California we have anti-cruising laws that prohibit groups riding around in their nice rides due to a perceived increase in crime. Fact of the matter is that there was more crime when those groups left because their presence actually deterred criminal behavior. In the NJ situation the question remains; What is worse, to see a caravan careening down the highway and do nothing about it, or, try to offer some sort of safety by providing (lawful or not) an impromptu escort to ensure the safety of others?
This is so typical of the new breed of cop these days, who won't cut "joe average" a break, when he's had a few many and drive him home, (DUI'$ are big biz these days) or, will still ticket you for going five over...instead they & the authorities are bought off by the elite and live by their own rules & we see more & more of this kind of story happening. Instead of suspended, since they were overwhelmingly caught, they should be canned & real troopers hired in their place!
I used to travel for work & went to atlantic city for work one day. You have no idea how fast folks drive on this stretch of highway. The blood drive was for city/gov employees & I saw cops passing me at 130+ & ducking off at exits to AVOID the tolls then right back onto the highway at the next exit. When I got to the job site who did I see? The same sheriffs deputys that were blowing past me on the AC xpressway. lol Guess they finally got caught. Jersey should almost be a separate country folks there are so different from the norm. Dont drive in New Jersey if you dont have to.
Yep, if you are running up the GSP about 4:30 am, you too can haul butt. Cops don't bother you if you keep it under 100 or so MPH.
I thought only the government ruling class could speed down the highways in NJ. Remember when Gov. Jon Corzine tried to blame his 100mph crash on a red pickup truck?
It's absolutely amazing how flexible the laws become if you have fortune and fame. I can't imagine a law enforcement official would be caught up in something like this. I really need a sarcasm font.
MSN can't figure out what real news acually is.
Those cars would have been a beautiful sight to see. Too bad people had to get grumpy about it. Unless someone clocked them, they don't know how fast they were going, might not have been speeding. Might have had the escort to get attention of the other drivers so no idiots pulled out and hit one of them.
After watching the video, it really doesn't look like they are going much faster than everyone else... Maybe 80 or 90 at best.
FYI, for anyone who has driven a super-high performance car like that 90..... aint that fast.
Even upto 110-120 feels like 75 in any other car.
I vote for this as a big giant, "WHO CARES???"
Agreed, didn't look like anywhere near 100 compared to traffic, much less 120 MPH. Even that isn't very fast in a vehicle designed for speed.
Lets look at it this way, the idiots in the SUV filming couldn't drive it at 100 mph. So how did they keep up if it were 100 mph? I think the cars were going 75 mph with occasional bursts of speed to feel the acceleration. Many of those cars can do 200 mph, and if you are going to speed, why not go for the gusto.
Something tells me that we will find out that money or some favors changed hands for this unauthorized escort service. I don't begrudge people their fame and fortune, but when people start thinking that they are entitled to live above the law and there are those that will bend over for the privilege to give them what they want, well, it just really speaks to the character of a person. In my line of work I occasionally meet people of privilege but I don't treat them any differently than I do the average person. Why would I?
The two airhead OWS types doing the filming were the only real hazard in this entire video. Generally the speeds of the convoy were not that much greater than the traffic flow...maybe 20 MPH faster with the occassional burst of speed by the random car. I don't think any but these random cars exceeded 100 if they even did but, if not authorized by the department the officers involved certainly committed a booboo. Slap on the wrist time.
Ok, now that all of you have had your turn bashing the State troopers for this "Dagerouse Stunt" and complained about the 1%s, lets ask one simple question! WHAT ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT! No where in the video does the person tapeing shhow his speedometer! So you only have his already baised statement. Next, WHAT SPEEDS! I watched the whole video, seems the other traffic had no issues and kept up with the caravan. You all just whine to whine! Infact, most of you drive like a bat out of hell everyday! Your problem is that you want to feel specail too, but you do not want to blame yourself for any of your failures! Gad! We have a whole generation of whiny kids who have nothing to do but find fault with everything those that earned thier way do! Grow up, get out there and do something other then whine!
This little stunt is double stupid. First, they did it and broke lord only knows how many traffic laws and secondly, they got caught doing it on tape. Beavis and Butthead are just as guilty but they are too stupid to know that they just handed the police enough evidence to suspend their license as well.