Prosecutor names driver whose car killed New Jersey Trooper Marc Castellano

Prosecutor names driver whose car killed New Jersey Trooper Marc Castellano
Published: Tuesday, June 08, 2010

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By Staff & Wire

FREEHOLD — The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office late yesterday identified the driver of the car that struck and killed New Jersey State Trooper Marc Castellano on Sunday as a 20-year-old Jackson man, Robert R. Swan.

The vehicle, a Volkswagen Jetta, struck the 29-year-old Castellano just before 10 a.m. as numerous state police troopers searched for fugitives in a vehicle abandoned on I-195 westbound at the Howell Township exit.

No charges have been filed against Swan. Prosecutor’s spokesman Pete Warshaw wouldn’t detail how the crash happened.

“It’s all part of the investigation right now,” he said. Nor would he comment on what the fugitive vehicle was wanted for on the State Police BOLO (Be On the Lookout) list.

One of the fugitives, Diana Hoffman, 30, of Blackwood, was spotted hiding behind a tree and arrested near the scene. Troopers searched for hours for a man she said was riding in that car with her before suspending the hunt at 6 p.m. Sunday, and revealing they “are also investigating the validity of Hoffman’s claim ....”

The six-year veteran trooper and father of two young children lost his legs there and died hours later at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Nothing more could be learned about Swan last night. Plenty, however, came out about Diana Hoffman at a hearing in Superior Court yesterday where her bail was raised from $350,000 to $500,000 by Judge Thomas F. Scully.

In arguing for higher bail, Assistant Prosecutor Rick Incremona told Judge Scully that Hoffman was part of another recent state police pursuit in Tuckerton, a chase that was curtailed to protect the public.

It was also revealed that early Sunday morning, State Trooper Shaun Murray signalled Hoffman to pull over in Wall, triggering this high-speed chase. After her car was found abandoned on I-195, they went looking for her.

Incremona also said Hoffman has two prior Superior Court convictions and allegedly failed to appear in court three times in the last five years.

He said prosecutors expect to charge her today with first-degree false public alarm — setting in motion the chain of events that led to Castellano’s death. She could get a 10- to 20-year sentence.

She faced a raft of charges on which she appeared in court yesterday: eluding by taking a state police officer on a high-speed pursuit (second degree), hindering her own apprehension by providing false identification (third degree), resting arrest (third degree) and cocaine and heroin possession (third degree).

The judge said Hoffman told the court she has been unemployed for 2½ months and is the single mother of four children who live with their father. She said she is a three-year former employee for Berlin Coil in Berlin.