This section is based on data provided to the Northern Valley Press by neighborhood police departments. Due to pending court appearances and other variations, the following information shall be read in “press time” context.
New York man allegedly choked Uber driver using seat belt
On Feb. 22 at 9:30 p.m., a 21-year-old Uber driver from Haverstraw, N.Y., stopped his vehicle on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in the Englewood Cliffs Section, where he alerted a Palisades Interstate Parkway Police officer that he had been assaulted by his fare, Joseph P. Coyle, 44, of Stony Point, N.Y.
The officer was already stopped on the shoulder conducting an unrelated traffic stop at the time.
The Uber driver stated that while he was traveling south on the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Coyle began striking him and tried to choke him with his seat belt.
The driver was evaluated by EMS and released from the scene.
Coyle was arrested and charged with: aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, resisting arrest (third degree), criminal trespass, and resisting arrest.
Coyle was later lodged in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.
Driver swerved to avoid deer, struck tree; 11 taken to hospitals
On Feb. 24 at 2:44 a.m., Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Officers responded to reports of a crash on the southbound Palisades Interstate Parkway in the Alpine Section. Upon arrival, Officers located a Ford E350 passenger van that had run off the road and struck a tree. Occupants of the vehicle stated that the driver swerved to avoid deer in the roadway which resulted in the crash.
Three passengers were trapped inside the vehicle and were extricated by members of Closter Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Corps. Officers and EMS units treated 11 total injured occupants of the vehicle: one adult transported to Englewood Hospital; one adult and two juveniles transported to Pascack Valley Hospital; and three adults and four juveniles transported to Hackensack Hospital.
None of the injuries were believed to be life threatening, police said the day after the crash.