Pickup Driver In Horrific Head-On Ridgewood Crash With 80-Year-Old Motorist Was DWI: Police

A driver from Hawthorne was drunk when his pickup truck slammed head-on into an SUV driven by an 80-year-old Waldwick woman in Ridgewood, authorities charged.

The head-on crash on North Monroe Street in Ridgewood happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13.
Photo Credit: *Boyd A. Loving*

Jerry DeMarco

01/16/2023 5:48 p.m.

Thomas Michalski, 59, was headed south on North Monroe Street when his Chevy Silverado crossed the double-yellow line Fairmount Road and collided with a northbound Honda CRV around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, Police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke said.

Both drivers were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, the chief said.

Michaski was charged with DWI, making an unsafe lane change and not wearing a seat belt, she said.

Ridgewood police were joined at the scene by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Investigations Unit, village firefighters, the Ridgewood Ambulance Corps, a Midland Park police officer who helped with traffic and the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence.

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