Police: 911 calls in pedestrian fatality 'were not recorded'

On March 9, did the driver whose silver 2011 Ford Crown Victoria hit and fatally injure a woman crossing Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street, above, call 911 to report the accident to police, and did he identify himself as a detective with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office? 

A diagram on the police report shows the pedestrian fell with her feet in the crosswalk. No charges were filed against the driver for failing to yield to her.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did Hackensack police botch the investigation into a March 9 pedestrian accident or are they trying to cover for a fellow law-enforcement officer who wasn't charged in the death of a 64-year-old woman?

Police now say the 911 call or calls alerting them to the rush-hour accident near Route 80 "were not recorded."

That means there is no way to know whether Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero, 49, of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office called 911 to report the accident immediately and whether he identified himself as a law-enforcement officer.

Nor whether he came to a full stop at the stop sign and yielded to the woman crossing from his right. Or, was he looking left for oncoming traffic before he turned right and struck her?

Or, as neighborhood residents speculate, whether he was on the phone before he hit her.

This week, Hackensack denied an Open Public Records Act request for an interview with Straniero police videotaped the day after the accident.

No charges filed

Hackensack filed no charges against the detective in the death of Hue D. Dang, a Vietnamese-American woman who was struck as she crossed Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street, according to a diagram on the police report, which shows she fell with her feet in the crosswalk.

A plastic grocery bag the 5-foot, 100-pound woman was carrying fell next to a wheel of the unmarked car, said a woman in the neighborhood who recalled police refused to answer her questions, told her to go away and said she could read about the accident in the newspaper the next day.

Dang, a former supermarket cashier who lived only a few blocks away from where she was struck, died less than an hour later at Hackensack University Medical Center.

After she was taken away in an ambulance, a resident took a photo of the blood that flowed from her head and stained the pavement near the crosswalk.

News story

The Record's single story didn't appear until March 11, two days later, and police, who didn't mention the Jackson Avenue crosswalk to the reporter, claimed they didn't know where Dang was "standing" when she was struck. 

Capt. Nicole Foley, then head of the Traffic Division, also told reporter Stefanie Dazio in a phone interview the detective stopped at the stop sign, then struck the woman as he turned right.

But Foley said there were no witnesses, adding the traffic fatality appears to be the result of an accident."

"She [Foley] said she did not anticipate criminal charges or motor vehicle charges being filed against Straniero," Dazio reported. 

911 call

In response to an OPRA request, Eye on The Record was given a one-paragraph explanation, dated April 9, from Police Office Bryan Feuilly to Capt. Tim Lloyd, the new officer-in-charge of the Hackensack department:

"Due to the new Toshiba phone system being installed, the 911 call(s) and/0r radio transmissions regarding the pedestrian struck ... on 3/09/2015 at 16:44 hours at the intersection of Jackson Ave. and Kennedy St. were not recorded.

"There was an issue with the voice logger not being compatible with the new phone system. The old system was Avaya. This issue has since been rectified," Feuilly said.

Today's paper

Page 1 of The Record reports a court threw a wrench into Governor Christie's voodoo budget balancing, blocking his attempt to use $160 million earmarked for affordable housing (A-1).

Unfortunately, Editor Martin Gottlieb devotes a huge amount of the front page to a ceremony in Virginia for a Dumont native who was among 32 students killed on April 16, 2007, and a silly sports column (A-1).

Otherwise, he could have run a sidebar to the court ruling explaining how Christie's inflexible no-tax policies -- especially his vetoes of a surcharge on millionaires and refusal to raise the low gasoline levy -- have wrecked the state economy.

Local news?

There are at least a dozen police or court stories fleshing out today's thin Local-news section (L-1 to L-6), another disappointing performance by Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza.

Thumbs down

When Elisa Ung spends half of her short review on background information for Sear House Grill in Little Falls, you know the food and service were mediocre (BL-14).

This place charges $84 for enough mystery beef to choke a horse, but the ravenous reporter found room to sample a few artery clogging desserts.

Menendez front page is a wink and nod at insider deals

The 7:40 a.m. NY Waterway Ferry took about 10 minutes to reach midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, but driving to the Weehawken terminal from Hackensack during rush hour ate up 45 minutes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The defendant is supposed to come out swinging, not the editors of The Record.

But today's front page -- nearly all of which is devoted to Bob Menendez's legal problems -- calls into question The Record's objectivity in reporting a 14-count federal bribery indictment against the state's senior U.S. senator (A-1).

In a sidebar, Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton, quoting "several white-collar defense experts," claims "federal prosecutors face many hurdles in making their corruption case" against the Democrat (A-1).

This is a virtual rewrite of Herb Jackson's front-page story a few weeks ago, after CNN reported top Justice Department lawyers had "signed off on the charges" (A-8).

What else would defense lawyers say? 

They have to justify the huge retainer they demand from defendants like Menendez, and the hundreds of thousands in legal fees that follow when the cases go to trial.

A bad taste

A U.S. senator enjoying a lavish, jet-setting lifestyle courtesy of a friend -- allegedly for promoting the friend's "business and personal interests" -- leaves a bad taste in the mouth of taxpayers and certainly appears to be improper, if not illegal (A-1).

The Borg family, which owns North Jersey Media Group, publisher of the Woodland Park daily, also treats their business associates and friends favorably.

In recent years, The Record has run at least two stories promoting business associates of the Borgs without disclosing those ties.

And in January, Publisher Stephen A. Borg announced a sale-leaseback deal with a close family friend involving the company's printing plant on 16.67 acres in Rockaway Township.

Borg said the agreement was with a fund sponsored by the Hampshire Cos. of Morristown, but didn't mention that Jon F. Hanson is its chairman and founder or that his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, and Hanson had jointly purchased a private jet in 2011.

Hanson is a major fund-raiser for Governor Christie, and advises him on sports and entertainment policy.

The Rockaway Township deal is worth about $30 million.

Branching out?

The byline of Jay Levin, The Record's local obituary writer, appears today on a front-page story about bunnies that just about the only relief  from the Menendez saga.

Levin's second byline is on the Better Living front feature called "The Name-Dropper" (BL-1).

Family dynasties

The upbeat story on the nearly 40-year reign of the Parisi family in Englewood Cliffs makes such dynasties sound like a good thing instead of one of the worst aspects of home rule (L-1).

Staff Writer Kim Lueddeke even mentions how the Zisa family "once dominated Hackensack so thoroughly that some called the city 'Zisaville'" (L-5).

But Lueddeke shouldn't have stopped there, because Hackensack still is haunted by Ken "I Am The Law" Zisa, its corrupt police chief, and the millions of dollars it took to fight all the lawsuits filed against him.

Today, Staff Writer Todd South reports on a lawsuit filed against Hackensack Police Director Mike Mordaga by Capt. Thomas Salcedo (L-3).

Wednesday's paper

On Wednesday, South reported the Union County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation of a March 9 pedestrian fatality in Hackensack that involved a detective from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

South's story on Wednesday's L-2 quotes Mordaga as saying "that it's quite common practice to have outside agencies review such incidents."

Avoiding any conflict of interest also is cited in the story.

Blogger's role

Of course, The Record doesn't acknowledge that Eye on The Record looked into the death of Hue D. Dang, 64, of Hackensack, and questioned the decision not to charge Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero, whose unmarked car knocked down and fatally injured the woman.

Eye on The Record also questioned Hackensack police saying they didn't know where the woman was standing, even though their own report and other evidence strongly indicated she was in or near the Jackson Avenue crosswalk when she was hit -- a crosswalk they never mentioned to The Record.

I called the state police and emailed the state Attorney General's Office about those concerns, leading to the case being given to the Union County Prosecutor's Office on Monday.

Wedesday's L-1 carries another story about a pedestrian in North Bergen who was fatally injured by the car of a West New York police officer.

This story, like the March 11 account about Dang's death, doesn't mention whether any charges will be filed. 

More Christie B.S.

Wednesday's front page gives Christie a soap box to justify his withholding $1.8 billion from state pension funds.

But the editors shoved back to A-3 complaints from Democrats that Christie is being far from honest about the fiscal health of the Transportation Trust Fund.

Wednesday's A-2 carried an embarrassing correction of a front-page story on the effort to recall Mahwah's mayor.  

Union prosecutor to review Hackensack pedestrian death

Hue D. Dang, 64, of Hackensack was walking in or near this Jackson Avenue crosswalk on March 9, when she was struck and fatally injured by an unmarked car driven by John C. Straniero, a detective sergeant in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Hackensack police investigated, but brought no charges against him in her death.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The state Attorney General's Office has directed the Union County prosecutor to review a March 9 pedestrian fatality in Hackensack that saw no charges being filed against the driver, a detective in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Hue D. Dang, 64, a Vietnamese-American woman who lived a few blocks away on Hudson Street, was struck by an unmarked car as she crossed Jackson Avenue at Kennedy Street, carrying plastic grocery bags.

She was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center less than an hour after the 4:45 p.m. accident.

Hackensack police were quoted in The Record on March 11 as saying they didn't know where Dang was "standing" when she was hit and knocked to the ground by Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero, 49, of Wayne.

Eye on The Record asked the state police and state Attorney General's Office to look into the Hackensack investigation. 

Today, Regina Garb of Citizens Services and Relations in the Attorney General's Office said the matter has been referred to the Union County Prosecutor's Office, which has a fatal accident unit.

Today's paper

International stories dominate The Record's front page today, including one aimed at the thousands of Yemenites living in North Jersey (A-1).

Columnist Mike Kelly turns his shit-eating grin to "another fugitive," ignoring the thousands of Americans who have started traveling to the Caribbean's biggest island and enjoying Cuban music and food (A-1).

A big photo on Page 1 memorializes the 150 passengers aboard a doomed Germanwings jet, proving once again how budget travel can come back to bite you (A-1).

You know the newsroom is being run by the man who once edited the international edition of The New York Times when you find a North Jersey environmental story at the bottom of A-1 today.

Wake up, Marty! 

Editor Martin Gottlieb apparently didn't think a highly respected 92-year-old municipal judge is front-page news in a local newspaper (L-1).

Judge Richard Greenhalgh is retiring Tuesday after a remarkable 48 years on the bench in River Vale. 

Staff Writer Nicholas Pugliese doesn't explain how Greenhalgh escaped mandatory retirement ages so common in other jobs, including Superior Court.

For readers, Greenhalgh is refreshing -- unlike all those seniors The Record reports on from nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospices.

Or, all of those confused drivers who are constantly crashing their cars into storefronts and being ridiculed in filler photos ordered by local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza. 

And the judge is lucky he didn't go work for a company like North Jersey Media Group, which doesn't prize older employees.

More and more, readers have to conclude that Gottlieb's news judgment as editor of a North Jersey newspaper just sucks.

Wake up, Marty! You're not in Paris anymore.

Report: Woman hit by cop's car fell with feet in crosswalk

The Hackensack Police Department report on the March 9 pedestrian fatality on Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street includes a diagram showing that the victim, Hue D. Dang, landed with her feet in the crosswalk after she was struck by a detective's unmarked car, above. The police officer who wrote the report says the diagram is "an approximation."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Hackensack police will not be filing any charges against a Bergen County Prosecutor's Office detective in the death of a woman, even though their report shows she landed with her feet in the crosswalk after he struck her with his unmarked car on March 9.

This afternoon, police insisted they still do not know where the victim, Hue D. Dang, 64, of Hackensack, was standing or walking when she was struck and fatally injured by Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero's car.

Police Director Mike Mordaga and Capt. Nicole Foley were not available for comment today. Foley, head of the traffic division, was quoted in The Record's March 11 story on the accident.

Mordaga was chief of detectives in the Prosecutor's Office until 2007. He took over as director of the Hackensack department in February 2013. 

Maureen Parenta, communications director for Prosecutor John L. Molinelli, said the office would have no comment because one of its members was involved.

Hackensack Police Officer Timothy Sroka said the diagram in his report is "an approximation," adding police still do not know where the woman was when she was struck by Straniero's silver Ford Crown Victoria.

The report, apparently based on statements from Detective Straniero, cited a fence with aluminum slats "which partially obstructed view on northwest corner of Kennedy Street and Jackson Avenue."

"There was also a large amount of sun glare from the west as the sun was low in the sky at the time," the report says.

Sroka wouldn't answer a natural question: How can a driver kill a woman and not be charged with anything?

The documents turned over to Eye on The Record after an Open Public Records Act request included a report that Sroka took a video statement from Detective Straniero at 10 a.m. on March 10, the day after the accident.

Today, Eye on The Record filed an OPRA request for the transcript of that interview. 

Eye on The Record also has contacted the state police and state Attorney General's Office to express concern that the detective escaped even a traffic charge, such as failing to yield to a pedestrian.

See previous posts:

Residents: Detective's car struck woman near crosswalk

Cops won't release fatality report without OPRA request

The "RR" markings on the pavement show the car, driven by Detective Sgt. John C. Straniero of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, stopped with the right rear wheel in the Jackson Avenue crosswalk after knocking down the 5-foot, 100-pound woman.

After the accident on March 9, the victim's blood stained the pavement, right. Police said she was bleeding "from her ears, eyes, nose, and head," and was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Hackensack University Medical Center. The woman landed on her back parallel to the passenger side of the car, police said, so her feet could have been in the crosswalk, left.

The crosswalk and corner where the woman was fatally injured, in a photo I took from behind the wheel of my car today. The police report cited the fence, right, as "partially" obstructing the view of the corner. Aluminum slats on the fence were removed after the accident.

Who was Hue Dang?

Hue D. Dang lived in an apartment building on Hudson Street, between Route 80 and Kennedy Street, only a few blocks away from where she was fatally injured.

People who live nearby said she was carrying plastic grocery bags when she was hit by the detective's car.

She worked as a cashier at the ShopRite in Paramus until 2013, one of her relatives said.

In 1975, Dang and seven siblings came to the United States with their parents as refugees from the Vietnam War.

Today's paper

Editor Martin Gottlieb again screws North Jersey readers with a front page dominated by an air disaster in Europe and Sen. Bob Menendez's legal troubles (A-1).

The Local front is filled with a huge, gee-whiz accident photo from Route 208, and Pages L-1, L-2 and L-3 have lots of court and police news for crime and lawsuit junkies.

'Wildly expensive'

Staff Writer Elisa Ung chose the "wildly expensive" Grissini in Englewood Cliffs to review.

She and a co-worker blew hundreds of dollars on two dinners of Italian-American food, rating the noisy restaurant Good to Excellent (BL-14).

Ung gorged on a $48 rack of lamb, but didn't bother to grill the owner on whether the meat was naturally raised. Ditto for a hunk of filet mignon at $45.

And she had to sample two artery clogging desserts, zabaglione at $30 for two and a ricotta cheese cake with tiramisu for $9.

Her Friday reviews continue to run with the same coy thumbnail photo she has been using since 2006, but it's time to update it and include her double chin.