Former Assemblyman Alberto Coutinho, a prominent member of the Portuguese-American community in the Ironbound section of Newark who served two stints in the New Jersey State Assembly, died this morning in a car accident. He was 56.
Coutinho suffered a heart attack after being injured in a two-car collision on McCarter Boulevard early Sunday morning, a News 12 report stated.
As a lawmaker, Coutinho served as chairman of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee and had been a member of the Assembly Budget Committee. He advocated for prisoner re-entry reforms, expanding parks and open space, and job creation. Coutinho was a vocal opponent of budget cuts by a Republican governor that led to police layoffs in Newark…