No Charges for Pickup
Driver
in Corzine Accident
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, April 14, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The
driver of a red pickup truck accused of causing the crash that critically
injured Gov. Jon Corzine will not be charged because he was unaware he had
caused an accident, State Police said today.
Acting on information obtained from the Little Egg Harbor Township Police
Department, along with leads that state troopers generated from Garden State
Parkway surveillance cameras and toll information, authorities found the
20-year-old driver Friday night at an Atlantic City casino, where he works, and
interviewed him.
At approximately 8 p.m. Friday, authorities had located the driver at a casino,
and questioned him, Colonel Fuentes said. He said the man confirmed that
he had witnessed the accident, and voluntarily went with troopers to the Bass
River State Police barracks for further questioning.
“The statement of the driver of the red Ford pickup indicates that he was
unaware that he caused this accident which unfolded as the other two vehicles
passed him,” State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said. “He
stated that he pulled back onto the road and left the area, believing that he
was not involved.”
The driver’s identity was not released because he was not charged, state police
said.
Mr. Corzine was hurt Thursday about 6 p.m. when the SUV he was riding in was
clipped by a vehicle that swerved to avoid a red pickup truck that officials
said was being driven erratically. Mr. Corzine’s vehicle slammed into a
guard rail along the Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township, near Atlantic
City.
The 60-year-old governor, who was apparently not wearing a seat belt, broke his
leg, 12 ribs, his breastbone and suffered a broken collarbone. He also had
a head laceration and a minor fracture of a lower vertebrae.
The governor remained hospitalized today after undergoing a second operation on
his leg, which was broken in two places. He remained heavily sedated and
unable to speak. A third surgery on his leg is scheduled for Monday.
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