Director of N.J. state agency killed in car crash
Chadd Lackey, executive director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, was killed in a car crash early Wednesday morning in Hamilton Township, police said.
Chadd W. Lackey, the executive director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, was killed in a car crash early Wednesday morning after another driver ran a red light, according to police. Lackey was 55.
“We are devastated by the tragic news of Chadd’s death,” SCI Chair Tiffany Williams Brewer said in a statement. “On behalf of my fellow commissioners and the entire SCI staff, we extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the Lackey family and his loved ones.”
Lackey was driving when the crash took place at about 6 a.m. in Hamilton Township on Route 130, Hamilton police confirmed to NJ.com.
A passenger in the car with Lackey was in critical condition. The driver of the vehicle that ran the red light, a 51-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening injuries.
“Tammy and I are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of New Jersey State Commission of Investigation Executive Director Chadd Lackey,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. “Chadd broke barriers as SCI’s first Black executive director, working his way through the ranks over nearly 20 years of service to our state.”
The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, or SCI, is a watchdog organization that investigates government waste, fraud, and abuse along with organized crime.
Established in 1968, SCI recommends laws and procedures to the state Legislature.
Most recently, SCI examined allegations of wrongdoing in the state’s congressional redistricting process and investigated the state’s COVID-19 response at state-run veterans homes in Paramus and Menlo Park where 200 residents and staffers died from the virus.
Lackey served nearly two decades at SCI. Before he was appointed executive director in January 2020, he served as deputy director and general counsel for almost three years, after a nearly 15-year stint as counsel for the agency. Before coming to SCI, Lackey was an assistant district attorney in Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office, where he helped oversee public safety in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He earned a business degree from Northwood University in Michigan before graduating from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.