Crime & Safety

Belleville Woman Charged With Killing Newark Taxi Driver In Crash

Alcohol may have been a factor in the fatal crash, prosecutors say.

Authorities have charged a 23-year-old Belleville woman with vehicular homicide following a fatal crash with a Newark taxi driver on Sunday.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Anaisa Bautista, 23, was driving on Broad Street in Newark around 3 a.m. when she allegedly struck Frederick Abbeyson’s 2006 Crown Victoria.

The 38-year-old Abbeyson, an East Orange resident, died following the crash, prosecutors stated.

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Abbeyson was transporting two passengers in his 2006 Crown Victoria at the time, both of whom sustained non-life-threatening injuries, prosecutors said.

Emergency responders transported Bautista and the passengers to University Hospital in Newark.

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“The preliminary investigation indicates that alcohol was a factor in the fatal crash,” the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office stated.

On Monday, authorities charged Bautista with vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated assault. Her bail was set at $300,000.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

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