A Bergen County man is facing drunk driving charges after authorities say he crashed an SUV into a building in River Edge and set it ablaze, News 12 reported. The early morning crash, which was captured on surveillance video, left the vehicle in flames and sent two people to the hospital, in an incident that played out on a quiet stretch of road in the middle of the night.
Prosecutors say the driver, identified as Johan Valencia, failed to turn at an intersection on Midland Avenue, instead speeding across Kinderkamack Road and crashing straight into the building at around 3 a.m. According to investigators, the path of the SUV carried it through the intersection and directly into the structure rather than following the road.
On impact, the SUV burst into flames, turning what might otherwise have been a single vehicle crash into a fire as well. The blaze added to the danger at the scene during the early hours of the morning, when the surrounding streets and businesses in the area would have been largely empty and quiet.
The driver was taken to a hospital and is now in police custody, authorities said, as the drunk driving case against him proceeds. The charges reflect the prosecutors' account that alcohol was a factor in a crash that ended with the vehicle embedded in the building and engulfed in flames in the middle of the night.
A woman who was in the car at the time of the crash remains hospitalized with serious injuries, according to authorities. Her condition underscores the severity of an incident that, by the account given by prosecutors, involved the SUV travelling at speed before slamming into the side of the building and catching fire.
Surveillance video captured the entire crash, giving investigators a clear record of how the vehicle moved through the intersection and into the building. That footage is likely to feature prominently in the case as the drunk driving charges against the Bergen County driver move forward through the courts in the weeks ahead.