(DCWatchdog.com) – In a bombshell revelation, it is now known that Nadine Arslanian Menendez, the wife of the recently indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., struck and killed a man while driving her Mercedes-Benz in New Jersey, as per police reports shared with local media outlets.
According to sources like the New York Times and The Record, the deceased, Richard Koop, was jaywalking in December of 2018 when he was hit, which led authorities to determine that Arslanian was not at fault. However, she was not subjected to a DUI test at the incident site. Dashcam footage shows that she was allowed to leave shortly after giving a statement to the Bogota police.
Arslanian and Menendez were dating at the time of the fatal incident. The impact of the collision caused significant mutilation to Koop’s body, as noted by the Bergen County medical examiner.
Sen. Menendez addressed the incident, remarking, “It was a tragic accident, and obviously we think of the family.”
Details from a federal indictment from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York revealed that Arslanian and Menendez are accused in a federal bribery scheme. Following the accident, Arslanian informed two Egyptian-American businessmen, Wael Hana and Jose Uribe, also tied to the alleged scheme, that she was without a vehicle. The indictment details that Hana subsequently provided her with a 2019 Mercedes-Benz valued at over $60,000.
The indictment reads, “In exchange, MENENDEZ agreed and sought to interfere in the NJAG’s criminal insurance fraud prosecution of an associate of URIBE and a related investigation involving an employee of URIBE.”
Furthermore, audio from the police dashcam footage captured a man who claimed to be a retired officer from a nearby department. He said he was at the scene as a “favor” for a friend familiar with Arslanian.
Rosemarie Koop-Angelicola, the deceased’s sister, shared her family’s concerns with the Times about what they perceive as a limited and biased investigation. She stated, “Definitely a lack of legal enthusiasm to take this case, definite lack of media coverage, and a lack of communication by the authorities of Bergen County. We felt that the whole thing was very silently swept under the rug.”
Records indicate this isn’t Arslanian’s first encounter with traffic-related issues. From 2007 to 2021, she faced several fines for violations, including using her phone while driving and not following traffic signals, amounting to approximately $410 in total penalties.
Fox News Digital reported that their attempts to get a comment from the Bogota Police Department were unreciprocated.
