Off-Duty Cop Fatally Struck Nurse With His Car, Took Body To Mother's House: Prosecutors

An off-duty New Jersey police officer has been accused of fatally striking a nurse with his car at a parkway and taking the body to his mother's home, where they allegedly discussed what to do with it.

Louis Santiago, 25, an officer with the Newark Police Department, was driving north on the Garden State Parkway in a Honda Accord around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1. When he steered onto the right shoulder of the parkway, the officer hit the 29-year-old nurse, identified as Damian Dymka, with his car.

Following the incident, Louis and Albert Guzman, the passenger in the car, did not call 911 or render any life-saving aid, Essex County prosecutors said Wednesday. The duo fled the scene but allegedly returned to the spot several times.

Louis loaded Dymka's body into his vehicle and took it to his mother's home in Bloomfield, WFLA reported. At the house, Guzman, Louis and his mother, 53-year-old Annette Santiago, allegedly discussed what to do with the body. Louis then went back to the crime scene with the body.

Later, Louis' father, a lieutenant with the Newark Police Department, called 911 and told them that his son had been in an accident. Officers found Dymka's body still in the back seat of Louis' car when they reached the spot.

Police arrested Louis, his mother and Guzman in connection with the nurse's death. They were released on conditions Tuesday, the NY Daily News reported.

Louis has been charged with vehicular homicide for striking a pedestrian, leaving the scene, then coming back and putting the victim in the car before returning to the scene with the dead body, the prosecutor's office said.

Guzman and Annette have been charged with conspiracy to desecrate human remains, hindering apprehension and tampering with physical evidence.

Dymka lived in Garfield and worked as a supervising nurse at Preakness Healthcare Center in Wayne.

"To think the cop moved a body instead of calling for help — who would do that?" Dymka's neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told Daily News.