Nicholas Sorrentino thought he was "king of the road" when he parked haphazardly outside a Linden go-go bar before the 2005 car wreck that killed former state Sen. Joseph Suliga, a lawyer for his widow said during the opening of a wrongful death trial in Union County today.

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerAttorney Kenneth Javerbaum points to a car on surveillance video taken outside a Linden go-go bar during the first day of testimony in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the widow of former state Sen. Joe Suliga.

Sorrentino's Infiniti was blocking three-quarters of East Linden Avenue, said the lawyer, representing Suliga's widow, Annmarie Pakulski, and a woman seriously injured in the crash, Joan Hannon. Suliga, who was sitting in the back seat, was killed when a westbound motorist slammed into the car.

Sorrentino and Omar Beeks, the driver of the westbound vehicle, are co-defendants in the civil case.

Hannon suffered fractures to her ribs, pelvis and ankle. She and Pakulski are seeking unspecified damages.

Suliga was a towering political figure in Linden, serving on the school board, city council, county freeholder board, the state Assembly and the state Senate.

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