Fort Lee Man Died From Trip And Fall, Not Hit And Run, Police Say

Police said Wednesday that a 73-year-old Fort Lee man who died last week from a head injury sustained in what authorities were originally investigating as a hit-and-run was actually the victim of a bad fall.

Jung Joo Cho of Fort Lee was found at the intersection of Linwood Ave. and Bridge Plaza North in Fort Lee on Nov. 7 with what police described at the time as a “life threatening head injury.”

Cho died a few days later at Hackensack University Medical Center, according to his son, Justin Joh.

“We originally handled this as a struck pedestrian,” said Capt. Timothy Ford of the . “We thought he got hit by a car, but that’s not the case.”

Ford said a medical examiner determined that Cho’s injuries were consistent with a trip and fall, and that the case is no longer being investigated as a hit-and-run.

“We were kind of relieved because we were making great efforts to find this car, and there were no witnesses,” Ford said, noting that the driver who found Cho lying on the ground had just pulled out of a building at 2115 Linwood Ave. near the intersection after dropping someone off, but hadn’t seen Cho when he pulled in just five minutes earlier.

Ford also said the fact that Cho was still wearing “Crocs” when he was found was further evidence that he had not been struck by a vehicle.

“When you get hit by a car, and you get hit hard, your shoes stay right where they were,” Ford said. “And his Crocs, which are really loose shoes, were still on his feet, which is indicative of him not getting hit.”

But Joh, who said his family was devastated by his father's death, reacted with shock and disbelief when told Wednesday that police were no longer investigating the incident as a hit-and-run. 

“There’s something strange about this. If you just walk and then fall, how can you possibly have that kind of injury?” Joh said Wednesday, adding that the family did not consent to an autopsy.

“It looked to me like the head injury was severe, and normally when normal people walk and fall … I just don’t think it’s possible,” he said.

Joh said that as recently as Tuesday, police told his brother that the incident was still being investigated as a hit-and-run. He told Patch Tuesday that his family—still believing the accident to be a hit-and-run—desperately sought answers, and was asking anyone with information to come forward and tell them what happened.

Joh said his father was diabetic but was otherwise in good health for his age. He said the family, including his mother and two brothers, immigrated to the U.S. from Korea in 1986, and that his father, who retired a few years ago, had “worked hard all his life” in the restaurant industry as a chef and a restaurant owner “to make ends meet for our family.”

Joh said his father was fluent in English and spent much of his time since retiring helping older people who don’t speak English, particularly with things like acquiring Medicare benefits.

“Basically, he spent a lot of time helping other people,” Joh said.