A former Middletown cop with a long rap sheet involving booze and driving faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty yesterday to DWI charges in connection with a 2-year-old boy’s death in Hudson County earlier this year, Jersey Journal reports.
The plea bargain requires Kevin Freibott, a Middletown resident, to serve at least six years, the Journal says.
In a Jan. 23 accident on the Pulaski Skyway, Freibott, who was off-duty from his job as as a Jersey City policeman, crashed his Jeep Cherokee into a car in which a mother and child were passengers. The boy, Carlos Zelaya, died of his injuries days later; his mother, Ruth Zelaya, has been in an unresponsive coma ever since.
Freibott pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, assault by auto and driving while intoxicated. The plea agreement stipulates that he’ll face no additional charges if Ruth Zelaya dies, the Journal reports.
From the Journal:
Freibott, who is a cousin of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, transferred from the Middletown Police Department in December 2005 with a record that included a previous DWI, seven car accidents, seven moving violations and three license suspensions.
Yesterday Healy said in a statement that “… we are glad to see that perhaps there is some finality and I hope this begins closure for the families involved.”
After the hearing Judge Peter Vazquez filled out a form to remove Freibott from the police department.
An article in the Nov. 13, 2002 Asbury Park Press said Freibott had been involved in two accidents in 2001, once while on duty, and that he had been fired by township officials for giving police inaccurate information regarding his license, which had been suspended. A Merit System Board ruling later recommended that Freibott be suspended for six months without pay and reinstated.
He should have had the venue changed to Red Bank. Then he could be out drinking again, or vacationing in Italy by now. Or maybe we should get all our DWI cases moved to Jersey City, so there would be some justice.
OH M!!! I'm getting what you're putting out there! Amen!
I used to live in NJ and I am still disgusted when I go back to visit, at how many more people there seem to drink and drive. Its not frowned upon until someone gets caught or kills someone….I bet many of you have done it before yourself. most of freibotts convictions have been over 15 years ago. not defending his actions just saying, many of you are just living on LUCK you have not killed someone yourself!
Alcohol flows as freely as guns in our messed-up society. Maybe the liquor industry's CEO's and the politicians should stand trial as well and bear their part of responsibility in these senseless tragedies. Every politician who voted to lower the drinking age to 18 back in the seventies is guilty for making alcohol so easily accessible to children at a younger age. What can we expect from a profit-at-any-cost society?