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SEE: Retired Bank Exec Struck In DWI Hit-And-Run In Closter Dies, Charges Against Driver Upgraded
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UPDATE: An Ecuadorian national living in Hackensack who police said fled the scene after severely injuring a 75-year-old former bank vice president in Closter was drunk at the time, authorities said on Monday.
Jesus T. Yunganaula Tenempagu, a 36-year-old father of four, works less than three blocks away at Buon Gusto Restaurant on Durie Avenue, sources told Daily Voice.
Closter police worked swiftly after Alan Friedman was struck and severely injured on Durie Avenue near Legion Place at 3:25 p.m. Sunday, March 26, responders said.
Friedman, who'd worked for The Bank of New York Mellon for 35 years, was "unresponsive but breathing, with multiple injuries," when he was taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center, Clsoter Police Capt. Vincent Aiello said.
He remained there in critical condition on Monday, the captain said.
Witnesses told police the victim had been walking along Durie Avenue when a 2007 Honda CRV hit him, then kept going, Durie Avenue, Aiello said.
Closter police canvassed the area, found the vehicle and arrested Tenempagu, the captain said.
Tenempagu was sent to the Bergen County Jail, where he remained on Monday pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on charges of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury, endangering an injured victim and hindering arrest.
He also received multiple motor-vehicle summonses for "violations related to driving while intoxicated and the hit-and-run crash," Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
It's believed ICE may issue a detainer preventing Tenempagu's release (under New Jersey's bail reform law) so that his immigration status can be determined by a federal court judge in Newark.
Closter detectives are investigating the incident with members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit and the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence.
The street remained closed for several hours while they did their work.
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