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.
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.
He’s now facing 12 felony charges, including reckless vehicular homicide and endangering an injured victim. Guzman and Santiago’s mother were also charged with allegedly tampering with evidence and other offenses. “If things were going crazy, I remember just being able to hug Damian and feeling like it’s going to be OK,” said Jess Valdanero, a longtime friend. “He wouldn’t let go until he felt like you were OK.”
His loved ones would learn later in the day that Dymka was the victim of a fatal traffic accident. Weeks would pass before they found out the full horror of what transpired in those early morning hours.The son of a Newark police lieutenant, he joined the force in 2019 and quickly made a name for himself. He received special commendations for assisting in two major drug arrests in 2020.
After allegedly striking Dymka, Santiago drove off but returned to the scene multiple times before he loaded the man’s body into his car, prosecutors said. He appeared intoxicated and was taken for blood testing, the affidavit says. But Santiago, despite appearing drunk and having admitted to moving a dead body, was not arrested at the scene. He was not charged until more than three weeks later.
A New Jersey State Police spokesman referred questions to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, Katherine Carter, said it was a state police matter. Santiago put the victim in the back seat with the intention of driving him to the nearest hospital, Toscano said. But then he realized that the man was dead, Toscano said.
Louis Santiago was indicted on 12 felony offenses: reckless vehicular homicide, strict liability vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, endangering an injured victim, desecrating/moving human remains, conspiracy to desecrate human remains, hindering one’s own apprehension, conspiracy to hinder prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing the administration of law and two counts of official misconduct.
Toscano added that Dymka’s death is weighing heavily on the young police officer and the rest of his family. “We all loved him,” said owner Paul Binetti. “He was always funny and bubbly and energetic. If you needed a laugh, you’d go to him.”
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