A New Jersey woman has been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes after allegedly striking two pedestrians with her car outside a business center in Sussex County, officials said Wednesday.
Yesenia M. Garcia, 48, of Franklin Borough, was arrested early last month following a motor vehicle crash involving pedestrians in the parking lot of Sterling Plaza, in what authorities believe was a deliberate act, police said in a statement shared on social media.
The incident occurred on the morning of July 2. Garcia was taken into custody at the scene, while the two victims were evaluated and treated by emergency medical personnel, then released.
An investigation led by Sgt. William Grissom later determined that Garcia knew one of the two pedestrians and that the act appeared to have been intentional.
Garcia was issued a criminal complaint summons along with several related motor vehicle summonses. She was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault by auto and endangering the welfare of another, and one count of criminal mischief, officials said.
She was released pending a court appearance in Sussex County Superior Court under the New Jersey Bail Reform Act.
Last month, a Long Island woman was sentenced to seven years in prison for deliberately hitting a 63-year-old woman with her minivan during an argument in the parking lot of a retail shopping center in Bellport nearly a year ago.
Philomena Mistretta, 51, “drove over” the victim before “dragging [her] for a short distance,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said. The victim was hospitalized with skull lacerations but survived.
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