By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, July 19, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04
A tractor-trailer driver arrested Sunday in Teaneck after he left the scene of a Washington Heights accident in which two elderly sisters were killed was not drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time, officials said Thursday.
Blood and urine samples taken from Harold Heitzman at the time of his arrest came up negative in New Jersey State Police laboratory tests, said Terry Benczik, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Heitzman, who had a Texas driver’s license but lives in Peru, Ind., was released from the Bergen County Jail Monday on $1,000 bail. He was charged with driving while impaired, use of or under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance, eluding police, and going 10 miles above the 55-mph speed limit.
At least the two drug-related charges will likely be dropped, Benczik said.
Betty Rosen, 83, and Claire Muller, 86, both of Manhattan, were on their weekly outing to a restaurant at the time of the accident. Rosen and Muller, holding hands as they crossed the 179th Street-Broadway intersection about 4:15 p.m. Sunday, were struck and killed.
New York police said witnesses supported Heitzman’s statement to Port Authority police officers about 20 minutes after the accident that he was not aware he had hit the women. New York police did not charge Heitzman in the death of the two women because there was no evidence of a crime, said a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Heitzman did not heed the lights and sirens of two Port Authority police officers attempting to stop him as he crossed the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey after the accident, police said. He stopped at the junction of Routes 95 and 80 in Teaneck.
A Sept. 10 court appearance had been scheduled for Heitzman in Fort Lee on the charges of impaired driving, eluding police, and speeding.
“Until I speak with my officers and review the case, I can’t make a decision whether the charges will be dropped,” said Matthew Fierro, municipal prosecutor. “I have to see what other charges the police officers have brought against him. He will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law once I review the charges.”
Teaneck Municipal Prosecutor Howard Solomon said he had not seen the complaint and could not comment on it. Heitzman is charged with use of or under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance in Teaneck.
“We’ll go forward with the complaint if it is provable,” Solomon said.
Keywords: MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; DEATH; NEW YORK CITY; TEANECK; VICTIM
ID: 17349971 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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