Crime & Safety

One Dead, Two Seriously Injured After Out-of-Control Car Hits Building Head-On

Three Fort Lee residents involved in early-morning crash in Ridgefield.

One Fort Lee man was killed and two others seriously injured after the driver lost control of the vehicle they were in and crashed head-on into a building early Thursday morning in Ridgefield, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said.

Miles Reme, 20, of Fort Lee, was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center and Tamar M. Ammar, 20, of Fort Lee, and James Racanelli, 20, of Fort Lee, were both seriously injured.

According to Prosecutor John Molinelli, Ammar was headed northbound on Broad Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle, drove into the southbound lane and eventually struck a building at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit determined Ammar was in the right lane when he lost control of his 2014 Honda Civic, which then mounted the sidewalk, drove through two bus stop sign posts and then went off the sidewalk and headed northbound in the southbound lanes, Molinelli said.

Ammar then drove over a grass median at the intersection of Broad Avenue and Edgewater Road and head-on into the exterior wall of a commercial business at 579 Broad Ave., Molinelli said.

The collision scene, from the bus stop sign posts to the building where the vehicle came to rest, measured about 1,400 feet in length, Molinelli said.

Reme, one of two passengers in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at 2:40 a.m. Ammar remains in "very serious" condition at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson and Racanelli, the other passenger in the car, is in serious condition at Hackensack University Medical Center.

The accident remains under investigation. No charges have been immediately filed.


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