Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of ERNEST F. HOFMANN (DOB: 5/18/1929; widowed; carpenter) of 107 Spring Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Acting Chief Matthew Finck and the Dumont Police Department under the direction of Chief Brian Joyce.
On Thursday, March 14, 2024, at approximately 5:19 p.m., the Dumont Police Department received a 9-1-1 call reporting a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian that occurred at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Madison Avenue in Dumont, NJ. The pedestrian, 54-year-old Dumont resident Elizabeth Feliciano-Rosa, was transported to Hackensack University Hospital and later died as a result of her injuries. An investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Dumont Police Department revealed that a 2002 Ford F-150 pickup truck operated by ERNEST F. HOFMANN struck the victim as she crossed Madison Avenue, and HOFMANN fled the area prior to police arrival.
As a result of the investigation, ERNEST F. HOFMANN was charged with second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1 and fourth-degree obstructing the administration of law, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1b; and he was issued several motor vehicle summonses. HOFMANN was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.
Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and he would also like to thank the Dumont Police Department and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this investigation, along with the Tenafly and Paramus Police Departments, which both participate in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit Task Force.
