Pedestrian Hit By Car Downtown Tuesday

An Elizabeth man was rushed to University Hospital in Newark with non threatening injuries after he was struck by a car while crossing Elm Street Tuesday.

Jorge Fernandez, 49, of Elizabeth was in the Elm Street crosswalk at the intersection with Quimby Street when he was hit by a 1993 Ford Taurus driven by David Shulman, 67, of Cranford. Fernandez complained of pain and his injuries appeared to be in his back.

"His injuries were determined to be non life threatening," Police Captain Clifford Auchter said.

The medic unit from Overlook Hospital in Summit was not dispatched to the scene, which is the protocol for life threatening injuries. The unit contains life sustaining equipment. A police investigation is on-going and no summons have been issued to Shulman in the incident. Auchter said it is unclear at this time if Shulman was speeding or was impaired when the accident occurred. He noted that Fernandez' injuries would have been more serious if Shulman had been speeding.

There were few witnesses to the actual accident outside of those involved and two people eating outside at the Mojave Grill who provided statements to the police.

According to an employee of the Mojave Grill who witnessed the aftermath and talked to witnesses, a female driver had stopped to allow Fernandez to cross Elm Street when Shulman then came and struck Fernandez. Shulman was traveling southbound on Elm when the accident occurred.

Fernandez was lying in the street following the accident surrounded by a crowd that assembled. According to witnesses of the aftermath, he appeared to have been thrown several feet and was moving and talking. Anna Mastroianni, the owner of Sole, said customers who came into the store after the accident said the victim was on the ground crying and appearing to be shaken but alert.

This is the fourth accident at the intersection in less than a year. Two other pedestrians have been hit while crossing at the intersection and a car jumped the curb and hit the outside of a clothing store at the intersection.

This is another in a series of pedestrian accidents in the downtown. In April, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car at the intersection of North Avenue and East Broad Street. Over the summer, a Lord & Taylor employee was struck by a car while crossing North Avenue in the crosswalk in front of the department store. The victim in this case survived and the driver has been arrested and charged with DWI and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.