Man Charged After 5 People Injured In Wrong-Way Crash In Paramus: Bergen County Prosecutor

PARAMUS, NJ — A Harrison, N.Y. man has been charged with assault by auto after a two-car crash in Paramus on Saturday left five people injured.

Whigmer J. Villanueva, 56, was arrested on Saturday, March 23, and charged with third-degree assault by auto and four counts of fourth-degree assault by auto, as well as several motor vehicle summonses, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors said that on Saturday, March 23, at approximately 2:28 a.m., the Paramus Police Department responded to Route 4 West, near the intersection with Paramus Road, to respond to a two-vehicle crash.

An investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Paramus Police Department determined that a 2008 Toyota operated by Villanueva was traveling the wrong way in the westbound lanes of Route 4 and collided head-on with another vehicle, prosecutors said.

Five people were transported to area hospitals with various degrees of injuries, prosecutors said, including one victim
with serious injuries.

Villanueva is scheduled for a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ on Friday, April 12.