FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Raymond Worrall
PHONE: (201) 320-3550
EMAIL: rworrall@hcpo.org
DATE: Monday, December 20, 2021
DRIVER IN BAYONNE FATAL COLLISION SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS IN STATE PRISON
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
On Friday, December 17, 2021, the Honorable John A. Young, Jr., J.S.C. sentenced James Nichols, age 51, of Bayonne, to five years in New Jersey State Prison for second-degree leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death related to the death of John Hagans, age 50, of Jersey City. The sentence includes a consecutive 2-year driver’s license suspension.
On September 10, 2020, Nichols was driving a Ford F150 in Bayonne at a high rate of speed when he struck Hagans in the area of Avenue C and 25th Street and then left the scene.
The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit, with assistance from the Bayonne Police Department, investigated the case.
The state was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Baginski from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit.