A Kearny woman has been arrested following a hit-and-run crash April 7 where police determined she looking down, texting as she hit the other vehicle, all while driving without a license, Det. Lt. Michal Gontarczuk, the Kearny Police Department’s public-information officer, said.
According to Gontarczuk:
Yesterday afternoon, the Kearny Police Department responded to a hit and run collision on Passaic Avenue near South Midland Avenue after a vehicle stopped at a red light was struck from behind by a BMW SUV. Following the collision, a passenger in the struck vehicle exited the car, experienced a medical event and lost consciousness. The injuries sustained were significant but luckily, non-life threatening.
The driver of the BMW, described as a woman in her 40s wearing cowboy boots with a distinct pink design pattern on them briefly got out of her vehicle. Upon realizing the damage and injuries she caused, she returned to her vehicle and fled.
Officers Jonathan Dowie and Angel Martinez arrived on the scene, interviewed witnesses and secured a partial license plate number. The officers also noted one of the BMW’s kidney grilles was left on scene.
Detectives then used the town camera system and other investigative tools to trace the vehicle.
They identified the full registration and noted the BMW had sustained significant front end damage, including the now-missing a kidney grille. Shortly after, Lt. David Rakowski located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.
Both the vehicle and the driver matched the descriptions provided by witnesses at the scene.
At the time of the stop, the driver was still wearing the unique cowboy boots.
During the investigation, police learned the woman was not only unlicensed, but also subject to a suspension of driving privileges order from the Motor Vehicle Commission. Officer Dowie also determined the driver was texting and looking down at her phone at the time of the crash.
The driver, Camila L. Bellizia, 44 of Kearny, was arrested and transported to police headquarters.
She was charged with driving while suspended, leaving the scene of an accident involving injury, failure to report a motor vehicle accident and use of a cell phone while driving.
She was subsequently released from custody and is expected to appear in court in the future.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.