By David Gibson and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, March 11, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | B01
A car theft in Paterson ended tragically in Elmwood Park near midnight Monday when the stolen car, driven by an unlicensed driver who had arrived from Puerto Rico four months ago, tried to elude pursuing police and slammed head-on into a car driven by a Garfield woman.
The driver of the stolen car, 19-year-old Manuel Cardona, was killed on the spot, and his two teenage passengers were badly injured. The Garfield woman, Sophie Soltys, 45, of Summit Avenue, also was seriously injured, authorities said.
Soltys suffered head injuries and bruised ribs and was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, where the two other survivors were taken.
A 14-year-old passenger in the stolen car was in stable condition in the pediatric intensive care unit with multiple trauma. A 16-year-old passenger was on life-support, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.
Cardona, who was driving the steel-gray 1986 Hyundai, was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m. at the River Drive and Summit Avenue accident scene, Fahy said.
Fahy, whose office is investigating the crash along with the Clifton and Elmwood Park police departments, said the Clifton and Elmwood Park police officers who chased the teenagers followed state guidelines regarding pursuits.
Police said Cardona had arrived in Paterson from Puerto Rico with his family two months ago and was not licensed to drive in New Jersey. He was living with relatives at 163 Redwood Ave. His family said Cardona had never been in trouble before.
The chase, which covered about two miles at speeds approaching 60 mph, came after a surveillance that began in Clifton about 11:40 p.m. Monday, said city Detective Capt. James Territo. He gave the following account:
Patrolmen Warren Lee and Pat Ciser, who was behind the wheel of their squad car, were parked at Randolph and Knapp avenues when the Hyundai passed them on Randolph Avenue moving toward Passaic. The officers began to follow. Noticing that the passengers were behaving nervously, they decided to check the police computer to see if the Hyundai was stolen.
The officers continued to follow as the car proceeded at the speed limit to Parker and Ackerman avenues. There, it abruptly made an illegal left-hand turn from the right-hand lane and headed over the bridge above the Passaic River, and into Garfield.
The car went north on River Road toward Elmwood Park, with the Clifton officers still following. At that moment, the officers were able to confirm that the car had been stolen in Paterson.
The officers then decided to pull the car over and issue a summons for the illegal turn made earlier.
“They activated their lights and, `Boom, the car takes off,” recounted Territo. The Clifton car gave chase and put out a bulletin for area departments to watch for the vehicle.
As the cars passed into Elmwood Park at Market Street and River Road, Elmwood Park Patrolwoman Debra Lysiak joined the pursuit. Two blocks later the car Cardona was driving sped up, police reports said, and went airborne as it hit a rise at a railroad crossing by River Drive and Summit Avenue. It was 11:53 p.m.
“As it came down on the pavement, the driver seemed to lose control,” said Elmwood Park Police Chief Byron Morgan II. “He veered into the oncoming traffic and hit a car in the southbound lane.” The car was a 1986 Oldsmobile driven by Soltys.
The fire department had to use the “jaws of life” to extricate the drivers of both the Oldsmobile and the Hyundai.”
Police said the Clifton patrol car was about 150 feet behind the Hyundai, followed immediatley by the the Elmwood Park police car, when the crash occurred.
No charges have been filed in the case.
Territo said the two Clifton patrolmen remained on duty and said they acted properly: “At this point we’re not looking at it as if anything was done wrong. We’re really looking into it as a matter of course.”
“It wasn’t like a high-speed, lengthy chase,” he added. “It was almost over before it started.”
Fahy called the pursuit a “proper chase,” and said the police did not exceed the speed limit.
Anna Cardona, the victim’s mother, was leaving late Tuesday for Puerto Rico, said Cesar Adorno, with whom she has lived for several years. Adorno said he would follow today with Cardona’s body, which will be buried in Puerto Rico.
“If this hadn’t happened we would have stayed here,” Adorno said. “Maybe to make a life.”
The dead man was a “real good guy” who had “never been in trouble with the police anytime or anywhere,” said Cesar Adorno, who has lived with the victim’s mother, Anna Cardona, for several years.
Cardona’s family, including his younger brother, came to Newark in November to be with an ailing cousin, Adorno said. They moved in with relatives in Paterson in December.
Adorno said Manuel Cardona, who was born and raised in the Bronx until his family went to Puerto Rico when was 4 years old, was studying for his high school equivalency diploma and was working part-time in construction. Adorno said the family did not know the juveniles
involved in the crash, or how Cardona came to be behind the wheel of a stolen car.
They last saw Cardona early Monday evening before he went to “hang out” with friends.
Police arrived at the home about 2 a.m. Tuesday with the news of his death.
Caption: The wreckage of the 1986 Hyundai whose teenage driver was killed Monday in a crash while reportedly fleeing police. Police said the car was stolen in Paterson. 2 – Below, police investigating the scene of the accident Tuesday. 3 – (4s, 3s, 2s, 1s) PHOTO – Manuel Cardona and his family moved to New Jersey in November. 2 COLOR PHOTOS – PETER MONSEES / THE RECORD
ID: 17371116 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)