A 56-year-old Bayonne teacher’s aide has filed a $3 million tort claim against the city after being hit by a police car near City Hall back in April.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I responded to the area of 27th Street and Avenue C, on a report of a Bayonne City Police vehicle that had struck a pedestrian, which I had monitored on my police radio,” Bayonne Police Officer Raymond Lynch wrote in an April 18th police report obtained through an Open Public Records Act request.
“Upon my arrival, I observed a pedestrian, later identified as Ms. Mariam Salam, … sitting on the roadway approximately thirty (30) feet south of the Avenue C intersection, in the center of the southbound lanes.”
Police Officer Brian Feuer was the driver when the accident occurred around 5:24 p.m. and he stopped and checked on the pedestrian until the Bayonne Fire Department and an ambulance arrived, according to the report.
The report also says that Feuer had his lights and sirens on as he was responding to another car crash, stating that he thought the roadway was clear and tried to stop before he hit Salam while she was within the crosswalk.
In a June 12th notice of claims addressed to the city and their police department from New York attorney Stacey Haskel, also obtained through OPRA, says that the city “acted negligently, recklessly, with reckless disregard, unreasonably, and willfully (with willful misconduct) in performance of their duties.”
As a result, Haskel has filed a $3 million claim to compensate for lost wages, medical bills, and other costs related to the accident.
The notice of claim also recognizes the claimant by a slightly different name than the one on the police report, “Mariem Salama” as opposed to Mariam Salam.
A spokesman for the police department did not return an email seeking comment while Haskel did not return calls seeking comment.
The documents related to the case can be read here.
