ENGLEWWOOD - Kearny resident Joseph Lopez, 39, has been charged and arrested with one count of vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated in connection with a fatal motor vehicle accident that occurred on Wednesday, March 27 at 12:25 p.m. in Englewood, according to a press release sent by Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.The charges came about as a result of an investigation conducted by Chief Joseph Macellaro and the members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit in collaboration with Chief David Bowman and the Englewood Police Department.
Lopez, who is employed by a company which cleans out portable toilets, was operating a 2007 Ford F350 Truck traveling in a construction site located adjacent to West Sheffield Road in Englewood, according to the report.
After cleaning out the second portable toilet, Lopez entered his Ford truck and traveled around the portable bathroom. He then backed up, in a northerly direction and passed a parked flatbed that was being unloaded.
As Lopez was traveling in reverse, he ran over a construction worker at the site - Hackensack resident Peter Toulson, 59.
Shortly after striking Toulson, Lopez stopped his vehicle after hearing several construction workers yelling after him indicating that there was a man laying injured on the ground in the path where the vehicle had traveled. Lopez then exited the truck and walked over. Toulson was pronounced dead as a result of severe head trauma sustained during the accident by Doctor Schiebman after the responding paramedics took the vicrim tothe Englewood Hospital Emergency Room.
During the course of the accident investigation, police detected an odor of marijuana on Lopez. He was charged and arrested with driving while intoxicated, and a blood sample was drawn for toxicology testing. Authorities await the results of the toxicology tests.
Bail was set at $35,000.00 with no 10 percent option by Englewood Municipal Court Judge James Dow, Jr., J.M.C.
The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutor Molinelli would like to thank the Englewood Police Department for their cooperation during the incident.
