An East Newark man has been charged in the death of a man who was killed in an industrial accident at a North Bergen recycling plant, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Yesterday at approximately 3:20 p.m., the North Bergen Police Department received a report of an injured party inside of Lincoln Recycling, located at 4711 Dell Ave., Suarez said in a statement.
Upon arrival, responding officers found the lifeless body of a man at that location. The man was identified as Horacio Juarez Diaz, 61, of Union City. He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 3:30 p.m., authorities said.
The cause and manner of death are pending an investigation by the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
The initial investigation by the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the North Bergen Police Department determined Diaz was a worker at the Lincoln Recycling facility and that he was pinned between a dumpster and a concrete wall.
The dumpster was apparently being pushed by a bulldozer.
The operator of the bulldozer was identified as Santiago Ventura Blanco, 38, of East Newark. Blanco was arrested at the facility at approximately 4:00 p.m.
He was charged with causing a death while driving unlicensed, a third-degree crime, officials said. Blanco was released on his own recognizance pending his first appearance.
He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court at 1:00 p.m. on January 23rd.
Suarez credited the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the North Bergen Police Department with the investigation and the arrest.
The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit continues to investigate this case with assistance from the North Bergen Police Department.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.
All information will be kept confidential.
