The penalty is expected to be light. A union representative said it amounts to a five-day suspension without pay, but can be appealed. Corzine said yesterday that he expects Rasinski to continue working for the elite state police Executive Protection Unit, which includes troopers who chauffeur and guard the governor.
Corzine said he spoke to Rasinski yesterday "and reiterated my personal gratitude, and the gratitude of my family, for the way he controlled the SUV on April 12."
He added: "This has been a regrettable and painful experience for all involved, and no one is more aware of that than I. A lot of mistakes were made on April 12; chief among them was my failure to wear a seat belt."
Fuentes, in his letter detailing findings of state police technical experts and the state police Motor Vehicle Accident and Pursuit Review Board, commended Rasinski for trying to control the SUV after it collided with a pickup truck.
But Fuentes faulted Rasinski for driving at such high speed and using the emergency lights, saying the trooper couldn't cite any threat or hazard prior to the accident and couldn't remember increasing speed or using the emergency lights.
He concluded that Rasinski's driving was "culpably inefficient and in violation of the division's rules and regulations."
Corzine's 2005 Suburban was the lead vehicle in a two-SUV motorcade as it raced north on the parkway through Galloway Township during rush hour. A 20-year-old casino worker in a red pickup truck pulled onto the shoulder to get out of the way, but swerved back into traffic to avoid a mile-marker post. That caused a white pickup to swerve into Corzine's SUV, which spun off the road and careened into a guardrail.
