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Terence J. Cotter of Delray Beach was headed south on East Crescent Lane when his 2022 Volkswagen Taos crossed into the northbound lane and collided head-on with the motorcycle shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
The rider, 58-year-old Paul Granados of Mahwah, was airlifted to Hackensack University Medical Center after being struck between Apple Ridge Boulevard and Roxbury Road.
Friends and loved ones said his foot and ankle were amputated as a series of surgeries followed into the week.
Officers at the scene who interviewed Cotter "smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath," according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack. "The defendant subsequently failed field sobriety tests and he was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated."
Cotter was charged with assault by auto, DWI and various motor vehicle offenses following an investigation by detectives from the prosecutor’s Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Mahwah Police Department, Musella said.
They were assisted by members of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, who collected evidence at the scene.
Cotter remained held Monday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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