SPECIAL REPORT
CAR ACCIDENT AT THE CORNER OF SIP AND BERGEN
SQUARE'S STOPPER
Friday, April 28, 2006
By CARLY BALDWIN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Parts of Jersey City's Journal Square were closed to traffic yesterday after a car crashed into a bank at the corner of Sip and Bergen avenues.
Fabian Velez's 1993 green Saturn smashed into the front window of the Washington Mutual bank at 9:37 a.m. after he was sideswiped by a red 1998 Plymouth minivan at the intersection.
Velez, 22, of Pamrapo Street, told police he was headed southbound on Bergen Avenue and tried to make a left onto Sip when the minivan, driven by Boris Kheyman, of Bethel, N.Y., hit his car, causing him to spin out of control.
Each man told police he had the green light, but only Velez was issued traffic summonses - one for making an illegal turn and another for careless driving, Sgt. Edgar Martinez said.
Four traffic lights were shut down until about 1 p.m. because the car knocked out the controls, said Dan Jansen of the Jersey City Division of Traffic and Transportation.
Sip Avenue was closed to traffic between Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Avenue until about 1 p.m. yesterday and Kennedy Boulevard was briefly closed where it meets Bergen, Martinez said.