Driver Was Going 100 MPH In Crash That Killed 3 In Jersey City Heights, Prosecutors Say

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A young Jersey City man has been charged in connection with an early-morning car crash on Monday that took three lives, with prosecutors alleging he was driving "in excess" of 100 MPH.

Ziyang Wang, 23, has been charged with three counts of reckless manslaughter and three counts of death by auto — the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said — after the BMW he was driving slammed into a Kia driven by another Jersey City man in his 20s, killing that man and two others.

Wang has also been charged with one count of assault by auto. He was arrested at Jersey City Medical Center, where he will remain in custody until medically cleared, prosecutors say.

On Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, at approximately 12:45 a.m., the Jersey City Police Department responded to a two-car collision on busy Paterson Plank Road near Congress Street, the area of the cliff near the 9th Street Light Rail elevator down to Hoboken.

A BMW X5 M50i had crashed head-on with a Kia Amanti, prosecutors said.

The driver of the Kia, Dylan Weidenfeld, 26, of Jersey City, was pronounced dead at
the scene. (Read more about Weidenfeld, an actor who grew up in East Brunswick, here.)

The BMW that Wang was driving was occupied by five individuals.

A female backseat passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. A male backseat passenger was
taken to Jersey City Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Their identities are still being withheld pending next of kin notifications, prosecutors said Wednesday.

A third backseat passenger, a 19-year-old woman, remains in critical condition at Jersey City Medical Center, prosecutors said.

A front seat female passenger suffered injuries that are not life threatening, prosecutors said.

"Data recovered during the preliminary investigation found Wang was operating the vehicle in excess of 100 miles per hour in the seconds leading up to the collision," prosecutors said.

Local officials have been asking that safety measures be taken on that corner, where a young nurse died in a car crash in 2019.

The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit is investigating Monday's crash with
assistance from the Jersey City Police Department. The above charges are merely accusations and
the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

READ MORE: Young Actor, Fitness Trainer Mourned In Jersey City Car Crash