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Witnesses told investigators that Charles J. Ann drove off in the middle of a February 2012 argument with 25-year old Aena Hong near the intersection of Inwood Terrace and Anderson Avenue in Fort Lee — then turned around his 2011 Hyundai Sonata and gunned the accelerator as she crossed the street.
Ann, 28, then repeatedly backed up and drove over her again at least three times, they said.
Authorities said Hong had broken up with Ann, a Korean native and naturalized American citizen who came to the U.S. in 2009.
Ann took off after the incident. The Sonata was found on Tenth Avenue, a short distance from where Hong was struck, authorities said.
A bulletin was issued and Ann was arrested less than 12 hours later by detectives from Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli’s office and the NYPD at a friend’s apartment in Flushing.
He was carrying his passport and “a large sum of cash,” indicating that “he was attempting to flee the country,” Molinelli said at the time.
Ann, who appeared thin and angular during a 2012 court appearance, was thicker, his face chubby in court in Hackensack yesterday. He apparently gained 40 or so pounds since his arrest.
In accordance with a directive from Molinelli in murder cases, he won’t be offered a plea deal and must go to trial.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Wayne Mello will try Ann on charges of first-degree causing Hong’s death and third-degree flight to Flushing, Queens to hinder his own apprehension and prosecution.
Bail remains at $3 million.
STORY / PHOTO: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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