Unlicensed Teen Driver Faces Vehicular Homicide Charge In Bergen County Crash: Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A 15-year-old unlicensed driver was charged with vehicular homicide Monday in connection with a fatal crash near the New Jersey/New York border last month, prosecutors said. READ MORE: Teen Boy Was Victim In Fatal Bergen County Crash Near NY Border: Prosecutor

The driver, from New York, was arrested in connection with the Feb. 28 crash on the Palisades Parkway in Alpine.

On that morning, just before 6 a.m., Palisades Interstate Parkway Police responded to a serious crash involving two cars in the southbound direction of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, near the New York state line.

Investigators determined that a 2025 Nissan Rogue containing five people had collided with a 2019 Honda CR-V containing only its driver, prosecutors said.

One of the passengers of the Nissan, later identified as a 16-year-old boy from New York, suffered
fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, prosecutors said.

Another Nissan passenger had serious injuries. The other two passengers and the teen driver suffered minor injuries. All of them were taken to an area hospital to be treated, police said.

The driver of the Honda was not injured.

Authorities said that the driver of the Nissan was driving "recklessly and at a high rate of speed, losing control of the vehicle.”

On Monday, he was taken into protective custody and charged with juvenile delinquency, second-degree vehicular homicide, third-degree operating a motor vehicle without a license and being involved in a fatal accident, fourth-degree operating a motor vehicle without a license and being involved in an accident resulting in serious bodily injury, fourth-degree assault by auto, and two counts of the disorderly persons offense of assault by auto.

He was released to home confinement in the custody of a parent or guardian to await further action by Bergen County Superior Court Family Law Division, prosecutors said.