Moorestown officer's widow seeks answers in fatal crash

Sgt. William McGovern of the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office has had at least six traffic accidents from 1989 through last year, when he fatally struck off-duty Moorestown Officer Craig Berner, motor vehicle records show.

In 1989, a Mount Laurel officer reported he suspected McGovern had been drinking before striking another car with his vehicle late one night and leaving the scene. Last year after the accident that killed Berner, according to Moorestown police reports, McGovern left the scene on Westfield Avenue, and three officers documented that he smelled of alcohol when he returned. McGovern, 61, in law enforcement since 1975, was not charged with DUI in either case. He currently is part of the prosecutor's trial team.

Berner's widow, Carrie, who lives in Moorestown with the couple's two teenage children, said McGovern had been "protected" by authorities who failed to take "appropriate" action in the accidents.

"If they would have done their jobs, Craig would be alive today," said Berner, whose husband was once an accident-scene reconstructionist who was honored posthumously for his work ticketing drunk drivers. "If they let him go all these years, they too have blood on their hands."

Burlington County Prosecutor Robert Bernardi did not respond to Inquirer requests for interviews. In an August statement, Bernardi said there was no evidence in the Berner fatality that McGovern committed a crime or motor vehicle violation.

In a Sept. 16 letter to Carrie Berner, Bernardi wrote that an administrative investigation of the Moorestown accident found McGovern violated "standard operating procedures," and that he had been subjected to discipline. The letter did not identify the violations or describe the discipline meted out. Berner said Bernardi's response was inadequate and McGovern should have been fired.

McGovern has declined interview requests. His attorney, John Sitzler, said McGovern could not avoid striking Berner and did nothing wrong. Sitzler did not return calls seeking comment about McGovern's other accidents.

The Inquirer has reviewed investigative reports from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, which investigated the Moorestown accident along with the state police. The Inquirer also has reviewed accident reports from McGovern's personnel file from the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

On July 27, 2013, about 10 p.m., Berner lost control of his motorcycle for unknown reasons. He was thrown into the opposite lane, hit by McGovern's pickup, run over, and dragged. McGovern called 911 but did not disclose that he had hit Berner, according to dispatch transcripts The Inquirer obtained.

According to the investigative reports, after McGovern learned the victim was Berner, a Moorestown sergeant permitted him to leave. McGovern later told authorities he went to feed a friend's cat, according to the investigative reports.

After Moorestown police raised concerns, McGovern returned to the scene about 11 p.m., as directed by Lt. Jay Abadia of the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, according to the investigative reports. Three Moorestown officers documented that McGovern smelled of alcohol and arranged for a breath test. It was called off after Burlington County officials told Moorestown to hold the scene for the state police, who would investigate to avoid conflicts of interest. McGovern's blood was drawn about six hours later. It tested negative for alcohol, as did Berner's, state police toxicology records show.

According to Camden County investigative records, McGovern was drinking that day at an annual pig roast for law enforcement officers, and again about 8 p.m. at the Flying W in Medford.

Carrie Berner said she believed after her husband - 52 years old and a patrolman of 26 years - died, officials covered for McGovern and manipulated evidence to make it look as though her husband caused the accident.

A state police accident reconstruction report concluded Berner was driving more than 80 m.p.h. when he lost control of his motorcycle. Steven Lucas, who was also riding his motorcycle that night and stopped to help, told Moorestown police and state troopers he was traveling about 50 miles per hour and Berner was keeping pace. His account is documented in the reconstruction report. In an interview with The Inquirer, Lucas said Berner could not possibly have been traveling at the excessive speed calculated in the reconstruction report.

Carrie Berner said her husband had a spotless driving record as confirmed in the state police report that omitted McGovern's history of accidents.

Capt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman, said that McGovern's driving history should have been included, and that it may have been an "oversight" that it was excluded.

Twice, Mount Laurel police documented McGovern's accidents. During an April 27, 1989, hit-and-run about 1 a.m., an officer wrote that he suspected McGovern of drunk driving. McGovern was charged with leaving the scene, reckless driving, and failure to report an accident. He pleaded guilty to careless driving, and twice attended driver safety courses, motor vehicle records show.

After an accident May 18, 1994, about 2 p.m. at Hainesport-Mount Laurel and Ark Roads, a Mount Laurel officer reported McGovern said he "thought he was riding his bicycle," not driving a van during a collision with a Chevy Nova. Three other traffic accidents in 1993, 2003, and 2009 are in motor vehicle records. A 1998 accident is referenced in McGovern's personnel file.

Carrie Berner said the circumstances were striking between the night her husband died and 1989. At the time, McGovern had left the Prosecutor's Office and was working for Merenda Chevrolet in Berlin.

According to Mount Laurel police reports, an officer was headed south on Hartford Road when a red northbound car with high beams on was swerving "continuously" from the northbound shoulder across the center of the road.

"As we passed, he crossed over into my lane, narrowly missing," wrote Officer Joseph Mastrangelo, now retired. "Believing the operator may be intoxicated, I began braking in order to turn around and stop the vehicle."

While Mastrangelo was pursuing the driver, another motorist flagged him down because her Cadillac had been sideswiped. She said the other driver turned into the nearby LeClub complex. A piece of rubber strip was among accident debris in the southbound lane, according to the Mount Laurel police report.

In the LeClub parking lot, police found a red 1989 Beretta - bearing Merenda Chevrolet tags - with a warm engine and damage to the driver's side from the front to the rear fenders. One of the front tires was flat, and a rubber strip was missing from the car. On the dashboard, there was a business card with McGovern's name, and a letter with his Mount Holly address. Police could not find him at the complex or his home. They towed the car.

Several hours later, McGovern called Mount Laurel police but did not go to headquarters as requested, according to the Mount Laurel police report. He arrived the next day at 9:45 a.m. According to the Mount Laurel police report, McGovern said he had been on his way to see a friend, fell asleep while driving, and woke up when his vehicle struck "something."

He said he did not see another car or person in the road, and never heard police or the truck in the parking lot when the Beretta was towed, the Mount Laurel report said.

"McGovern denied drinking," the Mount Laurel report said. "McGovern indicated that he was tired."

Seven months after that accident, McGovern was rehired at the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office. He started his law enforcement career in 1975. He was hired at the Prosecutor's Office in October 1987 and left in February 1989.

Stephen Raymond, the Burlington County prosecutor at the time who is now a private-practice attorney, said he recalls McGovern left after having a conflict with a supervisor in the narcotics division.

"I did hire him back. He did not deserve to be let go at that point," Raymond said. He said he did not know about the accident, and leaving the scene "at that time was not a crime, it was a motor vehicle offense."

McGovern, who earns nearly $100,000, has applied to retire early next year, when he will be eligible for his full pension, and can collect more than $64,000, according to the Department of Treasury.

Carrie Berner has asked the Attorney General's Office to investigate what happened at the Moorestown accident scene and afterward. Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the office, confirmed that a review was underway but said the office could not comment further.