UPDATE 4:15 p.m., March 28 — A Kearny man has been charged with killing a construction worker off Route 4 Thursday afternoon.
A crime scene investigation at the West Sheffield Avenue "Flatrock Square" construction site yesterday revealed that Joseph Lopez, the driver of a sanitation truck, backed up over Peter Toulson, fracturing his skull and killing him.
Police say Lopez, picking up waste from portable toilets, was driving around the site under the influence of marijuana when he hit Toulson, 61, of Hackensack.
Toulson was unloading a truck when he was struck at about 12:30 p.m., authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez, 40, was charged with vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated, according to information from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
A construction worker at the scene, speaking only in Spanish, said the site isn’t dangerous and the man’s death was only an accident.
But as Englewood and county investigators interviewed Lopez, they smelled marijuana, senior assistant Prosecutor John Higgins said.
"The allegation of reckless driving and the odor of marijuana supported the homicide charge," he said.
It was more than an accident, Higgins said, because the man was driving under the influence of a drug, deeming it a criminal matter.
"We’re waiting on the blood test results," Higgins said.
Depending on the degree of the crime, Lopez could face jail time, fines and the suspension of his license for more than 10 years if convicted.
Lopez’s employer, David Zuidema of Zuidema Portable Toilets, would not say how long Lopez was employed by the company and declined to discuss the incident, only to say he was assisting the county with the investigation.
"We’re just cooperating with all parties involved and doing our best to figure everything out," he said.
"Our insurance company has been notified."
UPDATE 9:15 p.m. — Englewood Police Chief David Bowman said details regarding the death of a construction worker off Route 4 today will only be released by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, indicating foul play may be involved.
Earlier this evening, Bowman directed all media inquiries to the county office. He would not say if any arrests were made but said a press release would be issued.
A Spanish-speaking worker at the "Flatrock Square" construction site this afternoon described the fatality of the "American" worker as an "accident" and said the site was not "dangerous."
Detectives from Englewood and the county responded for an investigation into the death of the man, reportedly in his 60s.
It is unclear if they were investigating an accident or a crime.
UPDATE 4:15 p.m. — The construction worker, identified only as an "American" by a fellow worker on the scene, died after a truck ran him over at about 1 p.m. in the "Flatrock Square" apartment complex site south of Route 4.
The fellow worker, speaking in Spanish, said he didn’t know the age of the man, only that he was American.
The worker said a truck carrying construction material through the site crushed the man’s head.
The site isn’t dangerous and the man’s death was only an accident, the worker said in Spanish.
Englewood detectives and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Unit responded and set up a tent over the man’s body. Investigators were seen canvassing the area.
Meanwhile, hundreds of construction workers gathered in a circle just behind the former Hoop Zone athletic center in silence, watching police piece together what happened.
The Flatrock Square residential and commercial complex has been under construction since 2006.
It is unclear if unionized workers are part of the construction project.
Police did not release further details of the man’s death or his name this afternoon. The investigation is ongoing.
Police Chief David Bowman was unavailable for comment.
