Trending Topics

Highway memorial for fallen N.J. trooper damaged by impaired driver

The man was found to be driving under the influence when he struck a memorial honoring Trooper Thomas J. Hanratty, who was fatally struck by a vehicle on April 2, 1992

Highway memorial for fallen N.J. trooper damaged by impaired driver, cops say

Hanratty, 24, was at the same spot, at milepost 46.8, when a car plowed into him. The trooper was walking back to his car after pulling over another vehicle when he was struck and killed.

New Jersey State Police via Facebook

By Eric Conklin
nj.com

UNION COUNTY, N.J. — A driver was under the influence when he crashed into a roadside monument honoring a New Jersey state trooper who died during a traffic stop in the early 1990s, according to police.

Trending
Mark Dial was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime and sentenced to 9.5 months in prison; he had already served 10 months
Video from the Fall River Police Department details the challenges police and firefighters faced as they worked for over 40 minutes to save lives during the fire that killed 10
The FOP alleged that officers in the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were instructed to downgrade violent crime reports to lesser offenses
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that beyond vandalism from locals, ICE officers whose information is compromised could be targeted by cartels and human traffickers

A 38-year old man from Berkeley Heights crashed into the memorial on Interstate 78 in Union County around 2 p.m. Aug. 31, New Jersey State Police said. He was treated on scene by firefighters.

While investigating the crash, troopers found drugs inside the vehicle, police said. The driver was brought to a hospital, arrested and charged with driving under the influence, drug possession and being criminally under the influence.

The memorial was dedicated to mark the site where Trooper Thomas J. Hanratty died on April 2, 1992, in Summit.

Photos showed damage to a metal New Jersey State Police logo and a sign reading “4971 Gone but Never Forgotten.”

Hanratty, 24, was at the same spot, at milepost 46.8, when a car plowed into him. The trooper was walking back to his car after pulling over another vehicle when he was struck and killed.

Hanratty served just over three years as a state trooper at the time he died.

Thomas J. Hanratty

Trooper Thomas J. Hanratty

Officer Down Memorial Page

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.