Source: Truck That Hit Five Cars In Maywood Near Mall Was Doing 80

MAYWOOD, N.J. -- A truck driven by a Hackensack woman was believed to be going 80 miles an hour when it slammed into five cars at a busy Maywood intersection Tuesday night, Daily Voice has learned.

Neighboring firefighters worked together to extricate both victims from the Explorer, Maywood Police Chief David Pegg.
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: Hackensack FD*

Jerry DeMarco

12/21/2016 4:30 p.m.

The Ford Explorer was headed north on Maywood Avenue just after 8 p.m. when it "rapidly accelerated," hitting a car at the corner of Sterling Avenue near the Outlets at Bergen Town Center, Police Chief David Pegg told Daily Voice.

"It then continued straight, hit four more cars and rolled over into a utility pole," he said.

Pegg said he couldn't confirm the report of the Explorer's speed just before the crash -- and that an examination of the vehicle's "black box" was necessary. Detectives were obtaining the necessary search warrant, he said.

Firefighters from Maywood, Hackensack and Rochelle Park removed the Explorer's doors so that EMS responders could treat the driver and her passenger, a Belleville woman, the chief said.

They and two other victims were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries that Pegg said weren't life-threatening.

Maywood and Hackensack EMS units responded along with HUMC paramedics and a St. Claire's Hospital ambulance that was in the area, he said.

Pegg also thanked the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and Paramus police for their help -- as well as the sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence during an investigation that lasted past midnight.

A PSE&G crew then replaced the pole.

Vehicles crawling into and out of the nearby Bergen Town Center were detoured through local streets.

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