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Michael Ettz is charged in the indictment with aggravated assault, DWI assault by auto and leaving the scene of a crash with serious injuries.
If convicted at trial, Ettz would face 15 years in state prison, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.
Danny Breslin (FAMILY PHOTO)
Ettz, of Lodi, remained free on $150,000 bail, which he posted after beng released from the hospital following the April 19 crash.
Breslin had stopped his SUV in the right lane of the highway, with its lights flashing, to block traffic from hitting a county police car stopped on the right shoulder, Molinelli said at the time.
The other officer was having radio problems, the prosecutor explained.
Ettz’s four-door 2012 Ford Fusion into Breslin’s SUV, trapping the officer, who had to be extricated, the prosecutor said.
Ettz then tried to make a run for it after being pulled from his car but was caught by a Lodi police sergeant, he said.
Breslin, a father of two, sustained a “significant head injury” and was brought to surgery with a skull fracture and bleeding after a CAT scan was done following the 1:50 a.m. crash, Molinelli said.
He also sustained several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
The officer returned home earlier this month.
Records show Ettz had his license suspended for 240 days for a DWI conviction out of Clifton.
TOP (FILE PHOTO): CLIFFVIEW PILOT Court Reporter Mary K. Miraglia
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