Vehicle Struck By Shotgun Blast On Quiet Old Tappan Street, Local Resident Charged

UPDATE: Authorities charged an Old Tappan resident whose shotgun accidentally went off in his driveway and sprayed a passing car with pellets.

Darden Bilali
Photo Credit: *BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR*

Old Tappan Road between Rivervale Road and Washington Avenue in Old Tappan.
Photo Credit: *Googlemaps/INSET: OTPD*

Jerry DeMarco

07/23/2020 1:59 p.m.

Darden Bilali, 46, was outside his Old Tappan Road home when the gun discharged shortly before 1:30 p.m.Thursday, hitting a car driven by a 71-year-old borough man with several pellets, authorities said.

The driver wasn’t injured in the accidental misfire between Rivervale Road and Washington Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Friday.

Musella’s Special Investigations Squad responded along with Old Tappan and River Vale police, as well as the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence.

Authorities issued a summons charging Bilali with aggravated assault and criminal mischief and gave him an Aug. 12 first appearance date in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

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