Ex-Chief Detective Helped Bob Menendez’s Wife Nadine Arslanian Dodge DUI Check After Fatal Car Crash: Report

A retired police official reportedly helped embattled New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's now-wife escape from the scene of a fatal crash in 2018 without having to undergo a sobriety test or hand over her phone, according to a new report from the New York Post.

After Nadine Arslanian, who was only dating Menendez at the time, hit Richard Koop with her Mercedes-Benz, killing him, she was apparently aided by a former local top cop, the report said.

Former Director of the Hackensack Police Department and ex-chief of detectives in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Michael Mordaga was “on the scene within minutes” according to the New York Post.

The 66-year-old Mordaga is said to have aided Arslanian in multiple ways, including quizzing officers who responded to the scene of the crash. Arslanian’s vehicle was reportedly totaled and unable to leave the scene, but she was permitted to take her belongings from the car and leave with Mordaga’s help.

Authorities later determined that Koop had been jaywalking and that Arslanian was not at fault. However, the New Jersey attorney general's office is now investigating whether authorities properly handled the investigation into the fatal crash after Arslanian and her now-husband were indicted in a bribery scheme that prosecutors say is linked to the involved car.

Arslanian and Menendez allegedly accepted bribes of gold bars and mortgage payments in exchange for political favors according to their 39-page indictment that was issued last month.

Among the allegations is that Arslanian was gifted a $60,000 Mercedes, one she needed after her car was damaged in the accident with Koop, in exchange for her husband's influence.

Koop left behind a son, according to his obituary. His family says they have had serious concerns over the investigation into the death.

“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,” Rosemarie Koop-Angelicola, Koop’s sister, told The New York Times. “We felt that the whole thing was very silently swept under the rug.”

Menendez and Arslanian’s federal bribery trial is set to begin in May.