Doctor who struck NJ trooper's car, killing both, was not high or drunk
Toxicology test results show what Dr. Lloyd Rudley's friends have long suspected: He was not impaired by drugs or alcohol when he crashed into Trooper Frankie Williams' cruiser.
Toxicology tests show a South Jersey doctor was not impaired by alcohol or drugs when he crashed his car head-on into a state trooper's cruiser, killing them both, according to records the Inquirer obtained Wednesday afternoon.
Friends of Lloyd Rudley — who has no surviving family — have maintained that he had a medical emergency related to his diabetes. Some people on social media jumped to the conclusion that he was impaired after the Dec. 5 crash on Route 55 in Millville, drawing pleas from those who knew Rudley to wait for all the facts.
The autopsy and toxicology results provided by the state Attorney General's Office on Wednesday do not say whether Rudley, 61, suffered a medical emergency. But that they show Rudley was not impaired is welcome news, Rudley's longtime neighbors, Steve and Janice Pollock, said.
"That's huge. That is huge," Steve Pollock said.
"Thank you, Lord, for clearing his name," Janice Pollock said. She acknowledged that she and her husband may never know for certain what caused Rudley to crash into Frankie Williams' cruiser. "It's still a tragedy," she said.
State police declined comment Wednesday.
Just before the crash, around 7 p.m. on Dec. 5, three people called 911 to report a swerving Toyota Corolla, the car being driven by Rudley. "I think there's a drunk driver right here in front of me," one woman told dispatchers.
The Corolla then veered from the southbound lanes, crossed the median, and collided with Williams' patrol car in the northbound lanes. Williams, 31 — the fourth state trooper to die in a car accident in less than two years — was responding to the 911 calls about Rudley's car.
Rudley worked in a private practice at the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which closed in 1997, and more recently ran a psychiatry practice in Elmer, Salem County, where he had a home next to the Pollocks'. Rudley also had an apartment in Philadelphia. Former patients described him on social media as "very dedicated."
Rudley had no siblings or children, and his parents died years ago. The Pollocks said Rudley was private but well-known among his patients. He was valedictorian in Vineland High School's Class of 1973.