John P. McClave III (Photo: Ocean County Jail)
A former police officer from Toms River has been sentenced to 17 years in state prison for a fatal motor vehicle collision in Tinton Falls that killed a husband and wife in 2021, Monmouth County prosecutors announced on Thursday.
John P. McClave III, of Toms River, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch on Friday. McClave, who served as a police in the North Jersey town of Hillside, received 8.5 years for each victim, with each sentence to run consecutively. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence before parole consideration.
The sentence was the result of a trial where McClave was found guilty by a jury of two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide on Thursday, March 12, 2026. The case was transferred to Ocean County Superior Court in late 2024 in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest within the Monmouth judiciary. According to authorities, shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 9, 2021, the collision occurred on Asbury Avenue, in the area of the Garden State Parkway overpass.
After being called to the scene, police encountered the two involved vehicles: a 2018 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by McClave, and a 2020 Toyota Corolla driven by 40-year-old Angel L. Acevedo, Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland. Acevedo and his wife, 35-year-old Daniela Correia Salles, sustained multiple severe injuries and were both pronounced dead at the scene. McClave was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for treatment of serious but not life-threatening injuries.
An investigation by Monmouth County authorities determined that McClave was driving his vehicle recklessly while under the influence of intoxicating substances that included both THC and alcohol at the time of the collision. The investigation also concluded that McClave’s vehicle did not change direction or slow down significantly after it left the Garden State Parkway lanes, resulting in his vehicle becoming airborne upon hitting an embankment, eventually striking the car occupied by the victims.
Shockingly, the investigation also revealed that McClave was on his way to work at the time of the crash.
“The impact that this incident had on our community is a reminder of the danger imposed when driving under the influence of intoxicating substances such as marijuana and alcohol. Such behavior cannot be accepted or tolerated,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago stated.
McClave was being lodged in the Ocean County Jail as of Thursday afternoon.
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