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YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Authorities have filed charges against a 63-year-old ranking member of Moonachie’s ambulance squad who smashed his SUV head-on into another car on his way to a call.
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“According to New Jersey law, volunteer fire, first aid or rescue members displaying emergency warning lights on their personal vehicles must drive with due regard for the safety of all persons and must obey all traffic laws,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli, in announcing charges of assault by auto against Franklin Smith, Sr. of Union Street.
Smith, a first lieutenant with the Moonachie First Aid and Rescue Squad, was headed to a call Saturday morning with blue strobe lights activated but no siren on his 2009 Toyota Rav 4 when it crossed the double-yellow line on Moonachie Road, the prosecutor said.
It slammed into a 2004 Nissan Altima driven by 52-year-old Gaetanina Delduca of Moonachie, he said. Both were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with serious injuries, he said.
Smith, who remains hospitalized, also received motor vehicle summones for reckless driving, failing to keep right, crossing double-yellow lines, improper use of an emergency light, and not wearing a seatbelt, following an investigation by Molinelli‘s Fatal Accident Unit.
He is scheduled for a first appearance in Municipal Court on Aug. 4.
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