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Dorothy E. Scordato, of Allendale, was still behind the wheel of her 2005 Honda Element (in photo) when emergency workers carefully removed her from the vehicle and rushed her to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, where she died of her injuries a short time later, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Rocco John Benedetto, 36, of Mahwah, continued on for about a half-mile before he stopped and called police, the prosecutor said.
Benedetto was driving a 2009 Mercedes Benz south on the highway when it slammed into the elderly woman’s car near the exit for East Saddle River Road just before 2 p.m., he said.
The collision “sent the Scordato vehicle out of control and across several lanes of Route 17, where it was struck by a 2008 Honda Civic driven by a 20 year old female from New York,” Molinelli said.
Benedetto remained where he was before investigators arrived and took him to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in Paramus, where it was determined that he was under the influence of alcohol, Molinelli said. He was taken to Valley Hospital where a blood sample was drawn., the prosecutor added.
Benedetto remains free on $150,000 bail, charged with vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance.
Crash scene photo property of CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM. No use without a hyperlink. Mugshot courtesy of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
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