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Danny Maiker Vasquez, 24, abandoned his father's minivan at the scene of the overnight crash on Broad Avenue near the North Bergen border that killed 39-year-old father of two Julius Smith shortly after 3:30 a.m. July 5, 2021.
Smith was walking toward the 7-Eleven on Fairview Avenue along a stretch of road known locally as "Dead Man's Curve" when the 2008 Toyota Sienna mounted the sidewalk and struck him, authorities said at the time.
Vasquez initially kept going, then bailed out, leaving the minivan there with front-end damage, they said.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit took custody of the vehicle, which was part of the evidence processed by the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Vasquez -- a Dominican national who was graduated from Dickinson High School and, later, FDU -- surrendered at North Bergen police headquarters, accompanied by his father, later that day.
He was booked on charges of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and endangering an injured victim. Authorities sent him to the Bergen County Jail, and a judge released him the following day, records show.
Vasquez took a deal from prosecutors rather than risk the consequences of a trial. He pleaded guilty to death by auto (otherwise known as vehicular homicide) in exchange for a three-year state prison sentence.
Under New Jersey's No Early Release Act, Vasquez must serve 85% of the plea-bargained term handed down by Superior Court Judge Gary N. Wilcox in Hackensack last Friday, Jan. 6, before he'll be eligible for parole.
He also had to answer motor vehicle summonses for leaving the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident, failing to maintain a lane and driving without a license.
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