Montclair Driver Hits Pole in Verona

A late-night car accident police are attributing to drowsiness sent the driver to the hospital with minor injuries, police said Monday.

The driver, a 28-year-old Montclair man whose identity was not released, was not charged in the accident, which occurred at 2:09 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14 on Bloomfield Avenue near the Pompton Avenue intersection in Verona.

Verona Police Captain Mitchell Stern said the man had become fatigued while driving, and misjudged the curve after the blind hill heading west from Montclair. He drove off the road, striking a pole and flipping his car over, Stern said. The driver was brought to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries.

On Sunday morning, a PSE&G crew brought down and replaced the damaged pole, resulting in the closure of a single lane in either direction on Bloomfield Avenue, slowing traffic in the area for several hours.