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The incident "had been arguing with the driver" when he opened the front passenger door and exited the moving vehicle shortly after 1:30 p.m. Thursday on the southbound side of the highway between Ewing and Russell avenues in Wyckoff, Police Lt. Joseph Soto said.
A passing responder stopped, grabbed a blanket and C-collar from the A&M Medical rig and assisted the victim, a motorist told Daily Voice.
The responder didn't want any credit, but his sister, LaChina Padilla, identified him as Jorge Ariel, a fire lieutenant in Haledon and firefighter in Hawthorne.
Ariel tried to make the victim comfortable while asking him questions in what seemed like an effort to keep him conscious, witnesses said.
Meanwhile, the clearly distraught ambulance driver paced back and forth on the side of the road, they said.
The victim "appeared to have suffered internal injuries and possible broken bones," Soto said. He was taken to St. Joseph's University Medical Center, the lieutenant said.
Wyckoff police were assisted by Franklin Lakes and Oakland police, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the state Department of Transportation, which handled traffic control, and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which collected evidence.
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