DRIVER IN CRASH THAT CRITICALLY INJURED PORT AUTHORITY POLICE OFFICER
CHARGED WITH ASSAULT BY AUTO
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
A Queens woman has been arrested and charged with Assault by Auto after causing a crash that critically injured a Port Authority Police Officer who was assisting at the scene of a prior motor vehicle accident on Route 139 in Jersey City early Tuesday morning. The Officer, Peter Siano, III, remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition at the Jersey City Medical Center.
On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, at approximately 12:40 p.m., Amandeep Tiwana, age 27, of Flushing, New York, was arrested without incident by members of the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and charged with Assault by Auto in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1C(1), a fourth-degree crime. Investigators believe that Ms. Tiwana was traveling at an excessive rate of speed. This remains an ongoing investigation.
Tiwana is scheduled to make her first appearance on the Assault by Auto charge in Central Judicial Processing Court in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City at 9:00 a.m. on May 20, 2020.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, just after 12:30 a.m., the Jersey City Police Department responded to a motor vehicle accident in which the driver, a 32-year-old New York woman, overturned her vehicle on eastbound Route 139 (depressed highway). The driver was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center with minor injuries and has since been released.
While Officer Siano and three Jersey City Police Officers were securing the initial crash scene and doing traffic control, another motorist heading eastbound on Route 139 struck the median divider, struck a JCPD radio car, and also struck Officer Siano causing serious bodily injuries. Two of the Jersey City Police officers also sustained minor injuries.
The driver, Amandeep Tiwana, was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center for examination but has since been released.
The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit is actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/. All information will be kept confidential.
The above charge(s) are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).