A cop fatally struck a nurse. His actions after the crash shock the victim’s loved ones.

Jan. 23, 2022, 4:30 AM EST
By Rich Schapiro

A silver Honda Accord zoomed past exit 150 on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey just before 3 a.m. The driver was an off-duty Newark police officer, Louis Santiago. His cousin Albert Guzman was in the passenger seat. ... It was the night of Halloween 2021, and Santiago was drunk, according to Essex County prosecutors.

He was staring at a cellphone when his car allegedly drifted into the shoulder and struck a man who happened to be walking along the darkened stretch of highway, prosecutors say.

Santiago, 25, initially thought he may have hit an animal, according to his lawyer, Patrick Toscano Jr. The victim, Damian Dymka, 29, was still in the costume that he had worn out that night: a black mask with gold antlers and brown fur covering his shoulders.

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Dymka would be pronounced dead at the scene — but not until more than two hours later. ... Louis Santiago, a New Jersey police officer who was off duty, is accused of loading Damian Dymka's body into his car and bringing it home.

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