84-year-old victim hospitalized in Ridgefield Park, NJ crash

🔴 Man accused of swerving into traffic

🔴 84-year-old victim hospitalized in crash

🔴 Questions around motive remain unanswered

RIDGEFIELD PARK — A Bergen County man is charged with aggravated assault in a crash this week that hospitalized an 84-year-old victim, according to authorities.

Patrick McArdle, 24, of Ridgefield Park, was arrested on Wednesday morning after the crash on the Bergen Turnpike, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Despite its name, the Bergen Turnpike is not a highway or toll road. The road has a speed limit of 25 mph and has mostly one lane in each direction, with room for parking on the shoulders.

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The 1-mile stretch of the Bergen Turnpike in Ridgefield Park (Google Maps/Townsquare Media Illustration)

Swerve into oncoming traffic

According to prosecutors, the serious crash happened in Ridgefield Park shortly before 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday.

A Honda Civic heading north on the Bergen Turnpike crossed the double yellow line and hit a Toyota Corolla heading southbound, officials said.

McArdle was the driver of the Honda sedan, prosecutors said.

An investigation found he intentionally drove into oncoming traffic, prosecutors said. He was hospitalized and then arrested.

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