Chad Hines, 41, of Wantage remained free pending a first appearance Wednesday in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Clifton Police Chief Thomas Rinaldi said in a joint announcement.
Jamie Yarrish, 25, of Clifton had her infant daughter, Jaelynn, with her when a 2005 Mack Conventional Cab dump truck driven by Hines struck her 2019 Honda Civic on the westbound highway near Allwood Road the morning of Aug. 15, authorities said.
The truck then struck a 2013 Subaru Outback operated by a 54-year-old Nutley man, they said.
Yarrish's Civic then collided with a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse driven by another man, 35, also from Nutley.
Jaelynn died after she and her mother were taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center.
Yarrish -- who reportedly suffered several fractures and a brain bleed in the accident -- required spinal surgery, her cousin said.
Detectives from Valdes’s and Rinaldi’s departments arrested Hines on Tuesday and charged him with death by auto, strict liability vehicular homicide and assault by auto.
They didn’t identify what factors led to the charges.
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