63°
Luke Stein, 18, was seized on a fugitive-from-justice warrant shortly after noon on Oct. 14 by police at Colorado University in Boulder, where he attends school, records show.
Stein -- who's a volunteer firefighter in Alpine and Demarest -- had his vehicle's blue-and-white emergency warning lights on when he pursued and deliberately rear-ended the victims' car on Route 9W in Alpine just after midnight Monday, Oct. 10, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Their Honda Pilot sped off and a short time later rolled and crashed into the woods in front of the Montammy Golf Club in Alpine, the prosecutor said.
Two teens were critically injured and two others were severely injured. A fifth was seriously injured.
Stein was headed home when he received an emergency alert on his firefighter pager to respond to the golf club for a motor vehicle accident, according to a detective from Musella's office.
"He responded to Alpine Fire/EMS headquarters and returned to the scene with emergency personnel," the prosecutor's detective wrote in a complaint.
Authorities said they found Stein's Jeep Grand Cherokee in the driveway of an East Madison Avenue home in Cresskill.
He lives there with his mother, Wendy Stein, and stepfather Manuel "Manny" Alfonso, a career law enforcement officer with federal and state experience who ran for Bergen County sheriff six years ago.
"A subsequent search of the vehicle, pursuant to a court order, revealed front end damage and an emergency light bar mounted on the dash," according to the complaint filed in Superior Court in Hackensack.
Detectives from Prosecutor Musella's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit charged Stein with aggravated assault -- for the high-speed pursuit with emergency lights flashing -- and with impersonating a law enforcement officer.
He will remain held in the Boulder County Jail pending extradition proceedings to return him back to New Jersey to face the charges.
It all began after Stein "heard that a friend had been assaulted at a party" on Schaeffer Road in Alpine, the complaint prepared by Detective Daniel Tanelli says.
"Accompanied by friends, Stein proceeded to that address," it says. "There, he heard a group of people bragging about being in a fight. Again accompanied by friends, Stein got into his black Jeep and sped off....A witness got into another vehicle, which drove off and eventually caught up with Stein's vehicle."
Mikkel Leutgeb, who was driving the Honda, told investigators he and his friends left the party "because a person had a gun," according to Tanelli's report.
Leutgeb was stopped at a red light when Stein caught up to them, the detective said.
He "activated his emergency lights and the Honda began to pull over," the complaint says. "At that point, Stein struck the rear of the Honda [with his Jeep].
"After the impact, the Honda sped off with Stein accelerating behind it," it says. "Witnesses reported that the vehicles were traveling in excess of 100 MPH.
"Stein's vehicle reportedly did not see the Honda crash, but turned into the Montammy Golf Club because they believed the Honda must have turned there," " the complaint says. "They proceeded into the club and began to search the property for the Honda, but were unable to locate it."
So they left, it says.
Leutgeb told investigators that "people were following him and he was trying to get away," the complaint says. "He further stated that a vehicle had rammed him while he was driving, which caused him to accelerate to get away."
One parent called it a "hostile chase w[ith] violent intentions" and "not kids racing."
"These aggressors deliberately tried to drive the car off the road, terrorizing the driver and the other passengers," the Tenafly High School Home School Association wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
The 5-foot-8-inch, 140-pound Stein became a volunteer firefighter both in Alpine in February and in Demarest in July, records show.
A motive for the incident hasn't been officially determined.
Rumor and innuendo have raced through Tenafly, Cresskill and neighboring towns about an alleged slight that brought a violent response. This hasn't been confirmed by authorities or investigators.
******
FROM ORIGINAL STORY: Jonathan Battaglia spent his 18th birthday recovering in Hackensack University Medical Center from punctured lungs, a broken leg, several fractures, a gash in his head and brain hemorrhaging, according to GoFundMe information approved by his family.
Also at HUMC is the driver, Mikkel Leutgeb, who has a fractured lumbar, a broken leg and facial damage, according to his family.
Detectives from Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit are leading a probe into what happened, assisted by Alpine police and the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence at the scene.
What sparked the encounter has been the topic of social media posts and private chats over the past few days.
What is known is that Battaglia and Leutgeb had left a Sunday night birthday party when their group became involved in an incident with occupants of at least one other vehicle on 9W.
Leutgeb's car ended up crashing in front of the Montammy Golf Club in Alpine.
"If one of the victims did not have the awareness to call the police despite his own injuries, saving critical minutes, we'd be having five funerals," wrote Eric Grant, whose daughter, Ariana, also suffered severe injuries.
The hero was Kevin Trejos, who played football at Tenafly High School and "risked his own injuries and got out of the car to call 911," according to a friend, Sam Deutsch. "Kevin also helped to pull people out of the car."
Deutsch also claimed that "multiple cars deliberately pursued the vehicle and intentionally, repeatedly and violently banged into the car, including impersonating a police cruiser, to force them off the road."
Route 9W was closed in both directions as the victims were brought to different hospitals, the wreckage was removed and investigators conducted their work.
Jonathan and Mikkel were rushed by ambulance to the trauma unit at HUMC, another passenger was taken to Holy Name Hospital and Medical Center in Teaneck and two others were brought to St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, responders at the scene said.
In a pair of GoFundMe accounts for Battaglia and Leutgeb, organizers both provided the same description of the incident:
"[M]ultiple cars deliberately pursued the vehicle Jonathan was in and intentionally, repeatedly and violently banged into the car, including impersonating a police cruiser, forcing them off the road. This caused severe damage to the vehicle, which was then unable to sustain further driving and smashed into a tree while the aggressors left the scene of the accident. Four out of the five occupants in the car were hospitalized and have undergone multiple surgeries of various kinds."
Authorities haven't addressed several unconfirmed contentions, including that the victims knew the others involved in the incident.
Eric Grant called it a "hostile chase w[ith] violent intentions."
"This was not kids racing and there is a full[-]scale criminal investigation underway," the parent wrote in a post. "Many witnesses have stepped up and are working with the [authorities]."
His daughter Ariana's injuries include a severely lacerated scalp, broken ribs, pierced lungs, fractured vertebrae in her neck and spine and a broken arm and ankle, according to her aunt, Wende Grant Green.
"It is a miracle she is alive and not irreparably damaged," said Green, who launched a GoFundMe for Ariana."So far she has had surgery to repair her scalp, two steel rods with six pins to secure her spine with a steel rod for her arm scheduled for [Oct. 13]," Green added.
"Her pain is horrible. We are working every way pragmatically prudent to manage it, but there are many moving parts."
SEE: Ariana Grant Recovery Fund (GoFundMe)
Lital Aburus "underwent a 7-hour surgery on her shattered arm, in which rods and pins are now permanently holding together her bones," the Tenafly High School Home School Association wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
Lital "suffered numerous lacerations requiring countless stitches on her face and hands, broken bones in her back, bruised lungs, and broken jaw, eye socket, and teeth and palate," the HSA wrote. "She will require extensive plastic surgery to repair her face. Her first of many reconstructive surgeries will be today to repair her jaw and eye socket with metal rods and pins."
Mikkel's dad, Martin Leutgeb, passed away just a few weeks ago. Mikkel had gone to the birthday party on Sunday from a memorial for his father, wrote Michael Leschner of Tenafly, who organized a GoFundMe campaign for his friend.
"On the record -- Mikkel's blood tests came back with a BAC level of 0.00," Leschner wrote, "meaning this atrocious accident was not due to alcoholic influence."
SEE: Mikkel Leutgeb's Recovery (GoFundMe)
Jonathan, meanwhile, "needed a blood transfusion due to the injuries he sustained," according to GoFundMe campaign organizer Tina Tierno.
"This is not how his family would have liked him to spend his 18th birthday [on Tuesday]," Tierno wrote, "but we are thankful he is alive and recovering."
SEE: Jonathan Battaglia Recovery (GoFundMe)
Trejos, meanwhile, suffered two compound lumbar fractures, a bruised lung, a respiratory infection and cuts on the hip, Deutsch wrote on a GoFundMe page he created for his friend.
"Thankfully, Kevin did not have to get any surgeries," Deutsch noted, "but he will live with the vivid memories of the crash."
SEE: Kevin Trejos Recovery (GoFundMe)
******
ANYONE who might have witnessed the incident and/or crash, or has any information that could help investigators in the case, is asked to contact the Bergen County prosecutor's tip line: (201) 226-5532. Callers can remain confidential.
******
Click here to follow Daily Voice Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park and receive free news updates.
