SADDLE BROOK - Authorities were investigating the death of a man who was struck by three cars while walking on Route 46 early Saturday. The man was about 25 years old and dressed in black clothing, said Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor John Higgins. He was walking just west of Fifth Street, in the right-hand lane of the highway, when he was hit about 3:30 a.m. by a 2001 Honda Civic, driven by Danielle Noyes of Bloomfield, Higgins said.
Eventually a police officer who was looking for speeders on Route 46 saw the body in the slow lane, said Saddle Brook police Lt. James Martinelli. The officer called emergency rescue personnel, who arrived and pronounced the victim dead at the scene, Martinelli said. Police were withholding the man's name and address until they could notify his family, Higgins said. The victim's body then was struck by a second car driven by Jessica Pollaro, 22, of Clifton, Higgins said. Pollaro told police she did not know what she had hit and pulled to the side of the road. She got out of her car and, as she approached the body, saw a third vehicle strike it, Higgins said.
"That vehicle stopped, and there was some dialogue between the passengers of that car and Miss Pollaro," Higgins said. "When she advised them it appeared it was a body, that vehicle left the scene," he said. The only information police have about the third vehicle is that it was white, he said. Pollaro went home to her parents, who called police, and she came to police headquarters, Martinelli said. Noyes, 23, who initially left the accident scene, returned with her boyfriend after police found the body, Higgins said. She smelled of alcohol and was charged with driving while intoxicated, and issued a summons. Police were awaiting toxicology results on her blood alcohol level. There was no indication that Pollaro had been drinking, and she was not charged, he said. "Both of these drivers have been fully cooperative," Higgins said. There are no other charges at this time pending an investigation to determine how visible the victim was, and whether the accident was avoidable, Higgins said. There were signs that the victim had been drinking, and police were awaiting a toxicology report, he said.
Hector Ramos was heading home before dawn Saturday from a night out with his girlfriend when they apparently got into an argument, his former roommate said. Opting to walk the remaining 2 1/2 miles home to Wallington, Ramos got out of her car near Route 46 in Saddle Brook, the roommate said. Shortly afterward, Ramos was struck by a passing car and run over by two others. "He was one of the best guys I've ever known in my life," his roommate, Hector Martinez, said Tuesday. "He was always smiling and very generous." Ramos, 25, worked as a manager at the Charlotte Russe clothing store at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, Martinez said.
"He loved his family," said his girlfriend, who wouldn't give her name. "He didn't do drugs, didn't do anything like that. He was a good person who had a lot going for him." The girlfriend said she didn't remember what time Ramos got out of her car, although she said it was after 3 a.m. She declined to discuss the argument, other than to say: "It was one of those things that happened that shouldn't have." Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor John Higgins said the accident was under investigation and that he couldn't comment on the argument scenario.
"We are looking into how it came to be that he was walking in the roadway," Higgins said Tuesday. Ramos apparently was walking on the westbound side of Route 46 in Saddle Brook around 3:30 a.m. when he was first struck by a 2001 Honda Civic driven by Danielle Noyes, 23, of Bloomfield, Higgins said. He was then run over by a car driven by Jessica Pollaro, 22, of Clifton, the prosecutor said. A third vehicle hit Ramos but left the scene, Higgins said. The only information police have about that car is that it was white, he said. Noyes smelled of alcohol and was charged with driving while intoxicated, Higgins said. Authorities were awaiting toxicology results on her blood alcohol level, he said. It didn't appear that Pollaro had been drinking, he said.
A Saddle Brook police officer arrived and called in emergency workers, who pronounced Ramos dead at the scene, police said. Noyes, who was driving alone, initially left the scene but returned with her boyfriend after police had arrived, Higgins said. Noyes won't be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, he said. "Based upon her returning with the vehicle and her cooperation, we decided not to charge her," he said. Ramos also may have been drinking. Police detected an odor of alcohol on him, Higgins said. They were awaiting toxicology results, he said.
On Thursday, Michael and his heart were buried. Dozens of teenagers, with excused absences from school, dressed in black to grieve for one of their own. About 400 people attended Michael's funeral, held at 10 a.m. at St. Andrew The Apostle R.C. Church, in the city's Athenia section. Students said that Michael was well known at Clifton High School. Even with 3,400 students roaming the halls of the largest high school in New Jersey on a single campus, Michael stood out.
"Everyone knew him," said Robert Regazzi, a junior. Several boys wore red Clifton sports jackets, some with a "lacrosse" emblem on the back -- a sport Michael used to play. A boy in a burgundy knit cap after the service solemnly distributed cigarettes outside to buddies, all clustered in a small circle in silence. The youngest of four siblings, "Mikey" loved to fish, hunt, cook, make people laugh, and change his hair color and style. Recently it was a Beatles style, and before that, he tried to match his girlfriend's golden hair color, his brother, James, 18, said.
During the funeral, his siblings recalled their generous, hilarious baby brother. "He would go fearlessly down the gigantic water slide over and over again," James said. "He'd come out with a huge wedgie. We'd call him 'sumo wrestler.' He didn't care. He just wanted to make us laugh." Michael's sister, Jessica, 21, said he had saved for months to buy his girlfriend earrings for her birthday. On the night of Nov. 30, Michael had just celebrated his girlfriend Natalia's, sweet-16 birthday party at her home. He drove on Route 46 eastbound with two passengers in his car. At 9:06 p.m. he made a right turn onto Vernon Avenue, said Capt. Robert Rowan, a police spokesman.
He drove over a curb, up a grassy slope and hit a wooden fence, said police Lt. John Link, the city's traffic commander. But the accident was minor and no one was hurt, Rowan said. At some point over the next hour, Rowan said, police arrived on the scene. It was Friday night and police were delayed because they were stretched thin, he said. A police officer took Michael's information. Then the officer sat back in his car to write a report.
At 10:01 p.m., Michael was struck in the left lane, or the "fast lane" of the highway, Rowan said. The motorist who hit Michael had informed the officer, still in his car, of the accident, Rowan said. Before Michael's funeral, his father said he faults the officer for not ensuring the safety of a minor. Rowan said the police generally try to "secure" accident scenes when they arrive, which sometimes involves the addition of lights and flares.
Rowan and Link -- who is heading an investigation of the accident -- said they couldn't confirm any further details of the accident. The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office is helping with the investigation, Link said. All traffic fatalities are investigated as a matter of course, he said. Michael's father, Rocky, said his son had been talking to him on his cell phone when he was struck. The conversation ended in mid-sentence, he said.
Standing in the foyer of the funeral home, Rocky Hamade said his son had always been lucky. He used to catch the first fish on family fishing trips, even as a child with simple equipment. His famous words were, "'I got another!'" his father said. Michael's favorite song, several people said, was "White Houses," by Vanessa Carlton. He sang the song in a YouTube video, several people said. At Paterson's Calvary Cemetery, friends and family lined up in the crisp air to receive a carnation or a rose to rest on his coffin.
Several people earlier had said Michael was always smiling. "He was probably the happiest kid I ever met," said Joe Gore, a Clifton High senior. Michael was buried with his childhood Snoopy fishing pole.
Clifton High School student killed crossing Route 46
04/14/08
Driver tells cops teen 'came out of nowhere'
CLIFTON -- City police are investigating the death of a Clifton High School student struck by a car on Route 46 early Sunday morning. James Hoey, 17, stepped in front of a blue Chevrolet Tahoe traveling westbound about 500 feet east of the Broad Street ramp at 12:50 a.m., according to police Lt. Paul Haertel. Haertel said the driver, George Amir, 33, of West Paterson, told police that the teen "came out of nowhere and stepped in front of his vehicle." EMTs pronounced Hoey dead at the scene. Police did not charge Amir with a motor vehicle offense.
According to investigators, Hoey crossed the highway alone. Haertel said why Hoey entered the roadway was unknown and still under investigation. The incident is being investigated by the Clifton Police Department's Traffic Division and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.
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A clerk in the Passaic County Medical Examiner's Office said an autopsy would be conducted. Haertel said there was no indication that Hoey had been intoxicated or that his judgment had been impaired. Hoey's death comes less than half a year after the death of 17-year-old Michael Hamade on a stretch of Route 46 a few miles away. On Nov. 30, at 10:01 p.m., Hamade was struck by a vehicle as he waited for a police officer to fill out an accident report.
Haertel said he did not know if Hoey knew Hamade, who also attended Clifton High School. He said investigators would look into whether there was a connection between the two deaths. On Hoey's MySpace page, above his photograph are the words "Hoey (r.i.p. Hamade)." "It's just so unusual that you have two 17-year-old kids killed by the same highway in the span of a few months," Haertel said. On Sunday, friends and relatives gathered at the Hoey residence to grieve. Jeff Duffey, who said he was Hoey's uncle, answered the telephone. He said funeral arrangements have yet to be made.
City officials described the Hoey family as well-liked and active community members. "It's a tragic event of a beautiful Clifton family, and our hearts bleed for them," said Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi, who said he knew Hoey's parents personally. Anzaldi said in another unrelated incident, a 7-year-old was struck by a vehicle on Knapp Avenue not far from Randolph Avenue on Saturday. Anzaldi said the child was transported to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson for a possible broken ankle. Haertel said he could not find a report of the incident.
Ramona Hallick, a paraprofessional at Clifton High School, said her daughter, a senior at the high school, called crying with the news of Hoey's death. Hallick said she knew Hoey and his parents from when Hoey played Clifton Southern Division Little League. His mother was a team mom, and his father was a coach, Hallick said. Hallick recalled how Hoey and other players "used to come and beg at the baseball fields" for hot dogs, she said. "They only got fed if they cleaned up the baseball fields."
Hallick described Hoey as a "normal, everyday kid," with whom she used to joke in the hallways. "He was so small, and the face never changed; it was just the height," she said of the little boy she knew who had grown into a young man. "I used to look down at him, and now he looked down at me." Anyone with information about Sunday's incident is asked to contact Patrolmen Brian Fopma or Derek Fogg at 973-470-5905 or Lt. Chad Wells of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office at 973-837-7661.