Cop busted for DUI, accuses Mayor Yaede of ‘animus’
HAMILTON >> The cop who recklessly crashed his township-issued police vehicle into a popular restaurant and bar last October while intoxicated has accused Mayor Kelly Yaede of improperly snubbing him of a promotion.
Detective Edward Lugo, former vice president of Hamilton’s PBA union for rank-and-file officers, said the Republican mayor prevented him from becoming a police sergeant due to an “apparent animus.”
Lugo received administrative discipline for driving under the influence and crashing his unmarked police car into the property of Bill’s Olde Tavern, but the veteran cop never lost his job over the transgression, The Trentonian has confirmed.
One year ago this week, Officer Steven Gould arrested Lugo about 1:20 a.m. Oct. 19, 2018, charging his colleague with driving under the influence and reckless driving following a single motor vehicle crash.
Lugo, 38, of Hamilton, crashed his black 2010 Chevrolet Impala into the stone wall facade of Bill’s Olde Tavern and then struck a speed limit sign, according to the crash investigation report.
Lugo was “determined to be at fault for the crash as well as driving under the influence,” the reports states, adding Lugo was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center for treatment after complaining of head, neck and back pain. His vehicle, meanwhile, had sustained “severe damage and had multiple air bag deployment,” according to the report.
When police interviewed him, the inebriated cop said he was traveling westbound on Nottingham Way approaching the five-point intersection with Quakerbridge Road when he crashed his vehicle. He stated that he “could not remember any more specifics about the crash,” the report says. “An inspection of the scene showed there to be approximately 50 feet of skid marks beginning in the intersection of Nottingham Way and Quakerbridge Road.”
A reliable police source said Lugo pleaded guilty in his DUI case and had his driver’s license suspended. Administratively, the township subjected Lugo to a sixmonth work suspension and tried to prevent him from coming back to work when he passed his fitness-forduty exam, according to the source, who requested anonymity because he or she is not authorized to talk publicly about personnel issues.
Lugo’s seasoned attorney, Stuart J. Alterman, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Promotion canceled
Months before crashing, Lugo in May 2018 expected to ascend into superior rank, thinking he would become a newly promoted police sergeant. But the promotion never happened.
That’s because Mayor Yaede as the township’s appointing authority did not authorize or approve of Lugo’s promotion. As such, she ordered the township to cancel Lugo’s certification for police sergeant, records show.
Lugo, represented by Alterman, filed an administrative appeal with the New Jersey Civil Service Commission or CSC challenging the mayor’s decision.
Lugo argued the mayor had “improperly canceled a valid certification in order to circumvent his appointment to the title of police sergeant,” according to public records. He further accused the Yaede administration of making a “deliberate attempt” to punish him for his “active involvement” as a former vice president of Hamilton’s PBA union.
Yaede is a Republican, and local PBA leaders in 2018 had voiced their concerns to the Democratic-led town council, particularly on the issue of the township “cutting police vehicles from the recent budget,” according to CSC case documents. Lugo also had “attended fundraising events for the opposing political party” and believed Yaede had an “apparent animus” against him, according to CSC appeal documents. “The appellant argues that without such animus, he was next in line for appointment and would have been selected for the position of police sergeant.”
The Civil Service commission on July 31 denied Lugo’s administrative appeal, saying the record “evidences that he was not entitled to the appointment” and that Lugo “has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the decision to cancel the certification was improper.”
Administrative punishment
Lt. John Feltes of the Hamilton Police Division’s Internal Affairs Unit last month confirmed Lugo had returned to full duty after facing certain discipline.
“Detective Lugo was charged administratively and those charges were sustained,” Feltes said in the Sept. 11 email. “Detective Lugo was disciplined in accordance with Division Policy and Attorney General Guidelines concerning Internal Affairs matters. Detective Lugo’s motor vehicle charges were disposed of in Hopewell Township Municipal Court. For specifics you would have to contact the Hopewell Township Municipal Court for that information.”
Margaret Umbro, administrator of the Hopewell Township Municipal Court, referred The Trentonian to Hamilton Township Municipal Court concerning the final disposition of Lugo’s DUI case.
“Please note that although the case was heard here in the Township of Hopewell, all documents were returned to Hamilton Township Municipal Court,” Umbro said in a recent email. “You will need to make this request to them directly.”
The Trentonian last month emailed Hamilton Municipal Court director Lynn Hoagland and Mercer County Municipal Division Manager David Eberhardt requesting disposition documents in the matter of State of New Jersey v. Edward Lugo. The newspaper as of Wednesday had not received any response from Hoagland or Eberhardt.
Lugo had no passengers in his vehicle when he crashed it last October, and no other injuries were reported in the incident, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Lugo has served as a township cop for the last 16 years and was one of the most visible officers on the force before infamously driving while intoxicated.
In 2018 pre-crash, Lugo served as vice president of the Hamilton PBA Local 66 police union and oversaw the Hamilton Police Division’s Office of Community Policing and Crime Prevention. He no longer is an executive PBA officer.
Lugo’s annual salary as of 2018 was approximately $121,000, but payroll records from Oct. 12, 2018, through Sept. 13, 2019, show Lugo accumulated nearly $78,000 in total earnings during that date range, which confirms Lugo lost wages due to his temporary unpaid suspension.