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Tamer Ammar remains “physically and mentally incapacitated” from injuries sustained in the July 24, 2014 crash at the intersection formerly called the “Ridgefield traffic circle” on Routes 1-9, defense attorney Robert Biaggotti told a judge in Hackensack.
His friend Miles Reme was killed and another, James Racanelli, severely injured. All three were Fort Lee High School athletes and 20 years old.
Racanelli has recovered but "there is no doubt Mr. Ammar was severely injured in the crash,” Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Martin Delaney told Superior Court Judge Frances A. McGrogan.
Many doubted that Ammar would survive injuries that included bleeding of the brain following the pre-dawn July 24 crash near the Ridgefield circle.
Authorities said he was speeding when he lost control of his father's 2014 Civic as it headed north on Broad Avenue toward the circle. After barreling through bus-stop signs and into oncoming traffic over a stretch of nearly a quarter-mile, the car slammed into the side of an accounting business.
Ammar was in a coma for months before being transferred to the rehab center.
Although he is still undergoing 18 hours of physical therapy a week, Biagiotti said, noted psychiatrist Dr. Azariah Eshkenazi doesn't think Ammar will ever been competent.
Delaney told the judge he plans to have Dr. Steven Simring, another psychiatrist who testifies frequently in court, examine Ammar, who is charged with vehicular homicide while DWI and reckless endangerment.
If his findings match those of Eshkenazi, the prosecutor said, charges could be dismissed and the case concluded on Nov. 16, the tentative start of a trial.
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