MONROE TOWNSHIP – Ernest Feist – the township official charged this week in an alleged drunken driving crash that injured three people – may have his engineering job waiting for him when he’s released from a New Brunswick hospital.
Mayor Richard Pucci won’t say if Feist has been suspended as a result of the charges, which stem from an accident Tuesday in which one woman was critically injured and two others hurt in the high-speed wreck.
Feist was intoxicated and speeding when he caused anaccident that injured three people Tuesday night, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
The 54-year-old Monroe Township resident, who also works as city engineer for Perth Amboy, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of assault by auto for causing the collision, the prosecutor’s office said.
Feist was hospitalized after the crash. He was charged at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he is being treated for injuries and listed in good condition.
“I am very saddened as a result of the tragic accident which occurred on Tuesday,” Pucci wrote in a letter to the media.
“My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured and their families,” he wrote.
The mayor said Feist “has always met his professional obligations in an exemplary way. However, he is now confronted with very serious charges as a result of this accident.”
The letter did not address Feist’s employment status with the township and no one in local government was available for comment Friday.
“There’s no further information other than what’s in the statement,” said Karen Andreadis, who is Mayor Pucci’s executive assistant.
In Perth Amboy, where Feist worked as city engineer, officials were more forthcoming.
“We will authorize a member of his staff to serve as city engineer while (Feist) recovers and recuperates,” said Gregory Fehrenbach, who is Perth Amboy’s business administrator.
Fehrenbach said no one from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office had called Perth Amboy officials to inform them of the charges against Feist. Fehrenbach said they’d read about the charges in the media.
“We’ve been informed by (Feist’s) office about his injuries,” Fehrenbach said. “We were told he would not be able to sign documents or act” in his official capacity due to his injuries.
Fehrenbach said Feist worked as an independent contractor for Perth Amboy and was not on salary.
In a press release, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office stated that Feist, who was heading west in a 2012 Mercedes CLS, crossed over the double yellow line and struck an on-coming vehicle, a 2004 Toyota Highlander, that was driven by a 57-year-old Manalapan woman, officials said.
The unidentified woman was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and was listed in critical condition.
The investigation further showed that Feist’s vehicle also crashed into a 2004 Mazda that was traveling behind the Toyota Highlander.
The driver of the Mazda, a 31-year-old Manalapan woman, was taken to Centra State Hospital in Freehold, where she was treated for injuries and was released.
Also injured in the crash was a passenger in Feist’s vehicle, a 34-year-old man from Effort, Pa. He was taken to The Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro and was listed in stable condition.
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