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Mini Cooper Goes Airborne, Slams Into Minivan On Route 17, Critically Injures Other Driver

UPDATE: Authorities identified the driver of a speeding Mini Cooper that flew into a minivan on Route 17, critically injuring its driver, as a 33-year-old warehouse worker from Hudson County.

The Mini Cooper slammed into the minivan on southbound Route 17 at the border of Carlstadt and East Rutherford.

The Mini Cooper slammed into the minivan on southbound Route 17 at the border of Carlstadt and East Rutherford.

Photo Credit: James Wood Sr. for DAILY VOICE

Witnesses told police that Christopher Macias of Guttenberg was racing the driver of another vehicle – believed to be a Camaro – when he failed to negotiate the exit ramp to Hoboken Road on the southbound highway shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

The other vehicle kept going, they said.

Macias’s Mini Cooper hit the grass triangle median separating the exit and entrance ramps outside the Meadowlands Diner at the East Rutherford border in Carlstadt and slammed into the driver’s side of a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica, he said Thursday.

The minivan driver, a 65-year-old resident of Montgomery (Orange County), NY, remained in critical condition at Hackensack University Medical Center, the prosecutor said.

Meanwhile, an investigation by members of his Fatal Accident Investigations Unit and Carlstadt police produced charges against Macias of assault by auto.

Macias, who wasn’t injured, also received summonses for reckless driving and speeding before being released pending a June 21 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, the prosecutor said.

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