Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli announced today that the grand jury has returned criminal charges against MICHAEL P. ETTZ of Lodi in connection with a DWI crash that occurred in Lodi on April 19, 2014. Specifically, ETTZ was indicted for 2nd degree Aggravated Assault; 3rd degree Assault by Auto While DWI; and 3rd degree Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to Another. ETTZ’s total exposure on these charges is a maximum of 15 years.

As a result of a cooperative investigation conducted by members of Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit (FAIU) and the Ridgefield Police Department it was determined that at approximately 1:30 a.m., on July 24, 2014, AMMAR was driving north in the right hand lane of Broad Avenue when he lost control of his vehicle, mounted the sidewalk, on his right hand side, and drove through two bus stop sign posts. AMMAR then drove the Honda off the sidewalk, across the roadway and traveled north in the southbound lane of Broad Avenue. AMMAR then drove over the grass median at the intersection of Broad Avenue and Edgewater Road and drove head-on into the exterior wall of a commercial business at 579 Broad Avenue. The collision scene, from the bus stop sign posts to the building where the Honda came to rest, measured approximately 1400 feet long.

Witness’ statements indicate that Mr. Lietke was walking along the roadway with a friend when he walked out onto the road and proceeded to lie down on his back in the middle of the lane. Shortly after, a vehicle traveling north avoided the subject. The driver of that vehicle stopped a short distance away and was witness to a second vehicle, which was also traveling northbound, run over Lietke. The vehicle, an Oldsmobile Pacifica, continued north on Larkin away from the scene of the accident.

Admitting responsibility for the death of a Clovis family man, 27-year-old Perla Ibeth Vazquez told a packed courtroom Tuesday that she wanted to be held accountable for her actions, but insisted: “I am not a murderer.”

Her plea didn’t sway Judge Hilary Chittick.

“This was a murder,” Chittick said bluntly in Fresno County Superior Court before sentencing Vazquez to 15 years to life in prison for getting drunk and causing a crash on Highway 168 in Fresno that killed 54-year-old Frank Winslow in October 2011.

Chittick said a jury was correct last month when it found Vazquez guilty of second-degree murder, felony hit and run, and driving on a suspended license when she caused the fatal crash.

Delphia Renee Whisnant Sumpter, 44, of Valdese, was convicted this week of two felony counts of habitual driving while impaired and felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She was sentenced to between 3.3 years and 5.5 years in state prison