Sgt. Jeffrey Kutz, one of the Sayreville Police Department’s most experienced cops with 22 years on the job, found himself getting booked for a crime on Dec. 18. After allegedly drinking at the home of another officer, Kutz drove his Dodge pickup truck 70 mph into two vehicles on the shoulder of an Old Bridge highway, seriously injuring a man, according to police reports.

Old Bridge officers described Kutz — whom they knew was an off-duty cop in the neighboring town — as drunk, agitated and confused. They said the 57-year-old veteran cop had urinated on himself and was unable to keep his balance, the report said.

A broken-down dump truck was parked in the shoulder of Route 9 South, with a second vehicle parked behind it, when Kutz’s pickup plowed into the car, crushing it against the massive dump truck’s body and trapping the occupant in that second car in the wreckage.

The man had to be extricated and airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick in critical condition. He was reportedly released from the hospital earlier this week.

“I know he feels terrible that someone was hurt,” said Kutz’s attorney, Joseph Benedict of New Brunswick. He said the incident was a “life-changing” experience for Kutz, whose aim is to help people. “It’s anathema to his calling in life.”

Kutz was charged with third-degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving and was suspended without pay from the department.

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