A West New York man has been hit with several charges for allegedly causing a fatal crash, taking the life of a 40-year-old North Bergen man while driving drunk, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Jose Francisco-Garcia, 26, of West New York, was charged with vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated, and failure to maintain a traffic lane, The Daily Voice first reported.
The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti and the Fairview Police Department under the direction of Chief Martin Kahn, Musella said in a statement.
At approximately 1:29 a.m. this morning, the Fairview Police Department responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash in front of One Broad Avenue.
At the scene, officers observed a 2017 Honda Civic with severe damage resulting from impact with a utility pole. The driver, Francisco-Garcia, was outside of the vehicle and had suffered minor injuries.
The front-seat passenger, Jose Santos, 40 of North Bergen, suffered fatal injuries.
Citing an anonymous eyewitness, The Daily Voice reported that Santos was killed instantly when his car hit the utility pole head on.
Francisco-Garcia is scheduled for his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, on Monday, March 30th, officials said.
