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Tamer M. Ammar, 20, remained hospitalized today following the pre-dawn July 24 crash near the Ridgefield circle.
Killed was fellow Fort Lee High School athlete Miles Reme, 20.
Injured was another 20-year-old FLHS graduate, James Racanelli.
Investigators determined that Ammar was speeding when he lost control of his 2014 Honda Civic as it headed north on Broad Avenue toward the circle around 1:30 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this morning, in announcing the charges.
The car “mounted the sidewalk on his right hand side and drove through two bus stop sign posts,” then barreled into the southbound lane heading north, crossed the grass median at the intersection of Broad Avenue and Edgewater Road and finally slammed head-in into the wall of an accounting business, he said.
“The collision scene, from the bus stop sign posts to the building where the Honda came to rest, measured approximately 1,400 feet,” Molinelli said.
All three men were taken to area hospitals.
Reme, who was pinned in the car, was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center at 2:40 a.m., Molinelli said.
Ammar was in “very serious condition” at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson and Racanelli was in serious condition at HUMC, the prosecutor said.
Besides the death by auto and reckless DWI counts, Ammar was charged with assault by auto, for injuring Racanelli, and issued several summonses for, among other offenses, DWI, reckless driving, carless driving, driving over the sidewalk and failing to keep right.
A warrant was issued this week by Ridgefield Municipal Court Judge David Lafferty, who allowed Ammar to be released without bail while he remains hospitalized.
No arraignment date has been set, Molinelli said.
Ammar is a former high school football player, while Reme played baseball and Racanelli wrestled.
State Motor Vehicle Commission records show that Ammar was ticketed 14 months ago for DUI in Fairview, leading to a seven-month driver’s license suspension.
He also has charges on his record for reckless driving, in Virginia, for prescription drug distribution, in Connecticut, and for marijuana distribution last winter in Fort Lee.
PHOTO: Courtesy Nj.com / INSET: PHOTO by Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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