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Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella didn't in any way identify the underage teen driver because of state juvenile justice laws.
However, local sources said he's a Bogota High School student who was with a classmate when the 2015 Ford Explorer he was driving slammed into a 2022 Nissan Rogue at the intersection of Palmer and Sherman avenues -- three blocks from the high school -- at 7:52 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 25.
The impact sent the 40-year-old driver's Rogue into a nearby house, witnesses told police, adding that the teen appeared to be speeding.
The victim -- a mother of two school-age children who lives in the neighborhood -- was extricated by Teaneck firefighters.
She was brought to Hackensack University Medical Center, where Musella said she was being treated for life-threatening injuries.
Contrary to some local news reports, juveniles aren't arrested in New Jersey -- they are taken into custody and charged with delinquency. It's essentially the same as being arrested as an adult. The legal terminology is different, however.
The teen driver in Teaneck was issued a delinquency complaint charging him with assault by auto, leaving the scene of a crash causing severe bodily injury and endangering an injured victim.
He was then sent to the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Teterboro.
A family court judge will hear the case against him behind closed doors, because of the boy's age, at the county courthouse in Hackensack.
Assembling the evidence was Musella's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit, Teaneck police and the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which handled forensic collection.
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