NJ man charged with dragging 85-year-old victim in deadly hit-and-run

🚗 71-year-old man charged

🚗 Victim dragged around 1,000 feet

🚗 Jersey City among country's most walkable cities

JERSEY CITY — A suspect charged with hitting an 85-year-old pedestrian with a minivan and dragging his body for more than a city block has been released.

Mohammad Ali, 71, of Jersey City is charged with second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision resulting in death and third-degree endangering an injured victim.

Ali was behind the wheel of a Toyota Sienna that struck 85-year-old Mumtaz Chaudhry in Jersey City around 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2023, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Ali has been released pending a court appearance on Feb. 13.

Victim dragged around 1,000 feet

Chaudhry was hit in the area of Fairview and Monticello Avenues.

Police found the Jersey City man's body near the intersection of Fairmount and Summit Avenues. He was declared dead at the scene.

The distance between the two intersections is more than 1,000 feet, according to Google Maps.

Jersey City ranked among country's most walkable cities

Fatal pedestrian strikes have become less common in Jersey City in recent years.

There were zero traffic deaths and zero pedestrian deaths in the city in 2022, NJ.com reported. Local officials have credited the city's implementation of its Vision Zero Action Plan.

Jersey City was ranked by a site called HVAC Gnome as one of the most walkable cities in the country last year.

The city ranked at number seven in the site's study, which included safety among its four major factors.

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