A Wayne man has been arrested in connection with a head-on collision on Hamburg Turnpike over the weekend that killed a Passaic County Sheriff's officer and injured his cousin who had just returned from active duty in Iraq.
Edwin Martinez, 40, was charged on Thursday with causing death and serious bodily injury while driving with a suspended license, said James Wilson, Passaic County chief assistant prosecutor.
Martinez was driving a 1987 Oldsmobile Calais about 5 a.m. on Sunday when he veered over the double yellow line and struck a 1994 Chevrolet Beretta, according to Bill Maer, a spokesman for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department.
Wilson said the Prosecutor's Office was continuing the investigation in conjunction with Wayne Police.
Blood was taken from Martinez and Kamal Kazan, the two drivers, to determine whether drugs or alcohol were involved, according to investigative protocol. Test results are not expected for another four weeks, Wilson said.
Kazan, 30, of Haledon,a Sheriff's Department corrections officer since 1994 and assigned to the county jail, was the driver of the Beretta. He was pronounced dead at 5:45 a.m. at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, Maer said.
Lawrence Jatker, 27, of Prospect Park, Kazan's cousin, was riding in the front passenger seat of the Beretta. He also was treated at St. Joseph's for a fractured nose, and cuts on his left hand and leg.
Jatker and Kazan's family could not be reached for comment after the Martinez arrest on Thursday.
The two cousins were returning from the King George Diner, less than a mile west on the turnpike, after being with friends to celebrate Jatker's return from a year-long tour of duty in Iraq, said Jatker in an interview on Wednesday.
Martinez also was hospitalized at St. Joseph's for a broken left leg and two broken ribs, broken left foot, swelling and cuts on his face, Wilson said.
Police arrested Martinez shortly after being released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.
He was taken to the Wayne Police Department, but was being held Thursday night in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack on $75,000 bail, authorities said.
Maer said that the relocation of Martinez from Passaic County to Bergen County was in line with a directive Sheriff Jerry Speziale gave to officers not to get involved in the investigation.
Since March 1988, Martinez's driver's license had been suspended several times for failure to respond to summonses issued for violations including speeding, improper turning and disregarding stop signs, Wilson said.
"This is a positive development in the chapter for the (Sheriff's) department," Maer said about Martinez's arrest.
"It's disconcerting that a member of the law enforcement community had to die because of an individuals' disregard for the laws of the state. It is our hope that justice is served."
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