Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon was issued three summonses including leaving the scene of an accident and driving an unregistered vehicle after hitting a parked car and leaving a note.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Yesterday at 10 a.m., I took my children holiday shopping at Lee Sims. While parallel parking I scraped the car parked in front of me. I immediately wrote a note, apologizing to the owner and provided my name and contact information, placing it under the windshield of the parked car,” Solomon told HCV.
“The owner of the parked car contacted me a few hours later, and has filed an insurance claim. I took immediate accountability for my error as all people and especially elected officials should do.”
The police report of the incident says the vehicle he hit was parked southbound on Boland Street, north of Fairmount Avenue, at about 3 p.m. on Friday and says the owner of the car discovered the note just under a full day later.
The summonses issued were leaving the scene, failure to report, and driving an unregistered vehicle, which wasn’t registered for eight months, the police report says. Solomon said he plans on contesting the charges in court.
According to state statute N.J.S.A. 39:4-129(d), leaving a note when hitting a parked car is standard procedure.
“… In the event an unattended vehicle is struck and the driver or owner thereof cannot be immediately located, shall attach securely in a conspicuous place in or on such vehicle a written notice giving the name and address of the driver and owner of the vehicle doing the striking …”
Solomon led calls for his colleague Amy DeGise, an at-large representative on the council, to resign after she hit a bicyclist and did not stop back in July.
“I am horrified by the video showing Councilmember DeGise’s hit-and-run crash. Leaving the scene of a crash is illegal. Doing so demonstrated a callous disregard for the life and health of the victim she hit,” he said at the time.
“Public servants must be held to a higher standard. While Councilmember DeGise is entitled to forgiveness and her day in court, both should come as a private citizen. She should resign. If she fails to do so, she should be recalled.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Monday with a state statute related to leaving the scene of the accident.
Comparing this to what Amy DeGise did is not a fair comparison. She could have killed that bicyclist. Damage of one car to another is a completely different conversation. Add to that I have head anecdotal evidence that the state of NJ failed to send registration renewal notices to some residents last year, so it’s possible it was genuinely overlooked.
Solomon did the right thing. How much damage was there anyway? Try calling the JCPD because you scraped another car while parking, GOOD LUCK. Now people won’t even leave a note. And why hasn’t DeGise even had a Court date yet?????