Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino announced Friday that Kareem Spence, an East Orange Police officer, pleaded guilty Friday to insurance fraud before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Vazquez.
Spence, 35, of South Plainfield had been an East Orange police officer for six years. In court Friday he admitted torching his 2002 Cadillac Coupe deVille because the car, which had 122,000 miles, repeatedly overheated. At the time, he still owed $8,000 on the vehicle. He took the vehicle to 50 Rich Street in Irvington and set it on fire to recover the insurance proceeds.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael G. Morris, head of the ECPO's Vehicle Fire Initiative, said, "The Essex County Prosecutor's Office will prosecute the crime of insurance fraud no matter who you are and no matter what you do for a living.''
