On July 26, 2002 Christie was driving a leased BMW in the city of Elizabeth.
He was on his way to a swearing in ceremony for the Union County Prosecutor. But Christie apparently got a little lost. When he got to the intersection of Murray street and Clinton, he edged out and made a partial right turn the wrong way on a one way street.
Enter Andre Mendonca. The motorcyclist was riding down Clinton street ( the right way ) and when he saw Christie in the intersection, the bike fell on its side and slid into Christie’s car, according to the accident report filed by the officer on the scene.
Mendonca was injured and taken by ambulance to the hospital. Not nearby Trinitas, but UMDNJ in Newark which has a trauma center. Reached by telephone this morning, Mendonca said he had no idea his collision was with the man who is now the Republican candidate for Governor. When I started to ask him questions about the accident, he said he “shouldn’t be talking about it.” Mendonca did say that Christie seemed very concerned for his well being and blamed bad signage at the intersection for what happened. Then he hung up on me.
Christie identified himself as the US Attorney to the officer who did not issue Christie a ticket. One Elizabeth official said that the officer then drove Christie to the swearing in ceremony.
News of this accident comes on the heels of an earlier story about Christie being pulled over for speeding in Lambertville ( see earlier posts ).
We asked Christie about the accident in Atlantic City Friday and he was very curt with his answers. NJN South Jersey Bureau Chief Kent St. John asked if there was a lawsuit. Christie said “no” then “nope.”
But actually there was. According to the Superior Court Record Center in Trenton, Mendonca filed suit in 2004. The complaint filed in Essex County was later dismissed, indicating ( according to the Clerk ) an out of court settlement.
“On the ‘heals’ of an earlier story”? Perhaps “heels”.
Nitpicky. Sorry.
sounds like one of the terms of the settlement was that Mendonca isn’t allowed to talk about the accident.
A related question: Who paid to lease the BMW that Mr. Christie was driving? Was it a personal lease, or did a third party hold it?
Zachary,
I came to your site through TPM. Nice write up. This is crackerjack reporting and followup.
Kudos on getting the facts. I’ll look for any future posts on this site. This story seems to be still developing…
<Henry
Wow! I wish I had the luxury of being driven by a cop to my destination after having been at fault in an accident, then not being issued a ticket after idntifying myself as ‘Joe Six-Pack!
I didn’t know that cops had ‘discretion’, because I sure could have used it for the times I got tickets for non-moving violations like parking tickets.
I was in a whorehouse in a state capital. The guy with me was real nervous. I told him, “Relax, the governor just walked in.” I wasn’t lying.
I was in an after hours gaming club in the capital city of another state where the bars closed at midnight. I was in the men’s room doing a number and a cop walked in, looked at me, and told me to get out.
I rushed out, straight into that state’s governor who had three state police bodyguards with him. He was still there when I left.
Now why am I not surprised by this account?
Oh please stop wasting your time on this. The car driver is always the guilty one when it comes to an accident between a car and a motorcycle no matter who runs into who.
A man on a motorcycle ran into my daughter and got stuck to her car. Fortunately she managed to expertly come to a cautious stop so that the man’s injury was not fatal. This was witnessed by her husband who was driving behind her on the California freeway where it happened. (Since he was related his witness was not acceptable.) The man was very grateful for her careful driving but nevertheless, later with apology, sued her anyway because he needed money. This caused her to change insurance companies. Hmm. I guess we could waste a lot of time trying to figure out exactly why.
And oh my. I was pulled over for speeding once too. I was actually going under the speed limit at the time. I’ve never been caught when I was actually speeding.
This is it? This is what you got? A bike laid down at an intersection? Guy filed a claim it was handled.
Wow. I thought it might be enough to return to the Democratic fold. Nyap. Sorry.
Corzine, via a 25 year career at Goldman Sachs with their specialized in Breaking up Companies, shipping jobs overseas, bankrupted the country, , ripped off pensions, and left retirees in a position of having to choose between Medicine food or heat.
Oyeha. A real FDR Democrat.
Has Christie devoured families whole on live television? No?
This ex Dem turned Indy isn’t lookin Back. Sorry.
Tired of the Bait and Switch Politics of the Dems…
I’m voting against every incumbent for as long as it takes to turn things around..