A 24-year-old Jersey City man was struck and killed by an SUV late last night in front of Diva Lounge. Law authorities are searching for the driver. From the Essex County Prosecutor:
At approximately 2 a.m. this morning, Montclair Police responded to 381 Bloomfield Ave., in front of the Diva Lounge in Montclair, on a report of a hit and run collision with a pedestrian. Upon arrival, police discovered the body of a male suffering from massive injuries. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has been identified as Javier Barros, 24, of Jersey City. Detectives from the Essex County Vehicular Homicide Unit and Montclair Police believe the victim had just exited the lounge and was struck by an SUV. The suspect vehicle continued to travel west on Bloomfield Avenue without stopping to render aid or to report this incident. Police are asking if anyone has any information about this incident to contact Detective Robert Parsons of the Essex County Prosecutor's Vehicular Homicide Unit at (973) 395- 3495 or Montclair Police Detective Tyrone Williams at (973) 744-1234.
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Comments (22)
Hopefully they get more detail than "an SUV".
This is the 5th "local" death reported since yesterday. Yikes.
Nothing good ever happens near Diva Lounge. It it the nexus of pain.
I want to hear what hansmeier has to say about this. Oh, right, the idiots that run this site blocked him.
sooth, perhaps you could arrange to email with him without significantly putting a strain on his contacts list.
Good grief!
How many more tragic deaths can this website cram in before the week ends?
Does anyone feel that more people seem to get hit by cars today than say 20-30 years ago, and i know why.
Do you notice that people crossing the street today seem to cross with the attitude that " I'M CROSSING SO STOP "
I'm not making excuses for the drivers or blaming the pedestrians, but when i cross the street, i'm on my guard looking in ever direction, and if traffic is coming i stay out of the way.
Many times i see people crossing the street unaware of on coming traffic and with the confidence that cars will come to a halt because their crossing the street.
When i cross the street in a busy area, i treat it as if i was under gun fire. To many people today are getting hit by cars and i think its due to trusting drivers.
According to the Montclair Times:
When contacted by The Times, Seth Lawrence, owner of Diva, called the incident "a terrible tragedy."
The victim "tripped over some garbage, from what I was told, while looking at his cell," Lawrence said. "It's just a horrific, horrific thing."
Lawrence said he wasn't at Diva at the time of the incident.
Thursday night is "Latin Night" at the nightclub.
Pedestrians have the right-of-way in crosswalks. So yes, the "I'm crossing so STOP!" attitude is justified. Of course, one should not tempt fate by blindly stepping out in front of an oncoming vehicle in the expectation that they will see you in time, and will indeed stop for you.
Where people are wrong is when they cross in the middle of the block, from between parked cars, etc., places where drivers should not be reasonably expected to respond to someone suddenly darting in front of them.
Nothing good happens after midnight, as a good friend once said--and nothing good has happened on Baristanet over the past couple of days, only sad news. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
HearAll,
You may have it right, unfortunately. I work on Jersey City, and I come home quite often frustrated, because the locals there believe red, green, yellow, they cross without looking and without warning. This is a terrible tragedy, but all you have to do is take a 20min drive to Jersey city and you will see everyone doing the same, sadly.
It has been one bad week here in Baristaville.
Put down the cellphones. And while pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk, cars/SUVs are bigger. stronger, faster, so don't let your attitude ruin your life.
Pedestrians do have the right of way at marked crosswalks where there is no traffic light. At traffic lights, vehicles have the right of way as long as they are not turning.
There is a traffic light at the corner of Willow and Bloomfield where Diva is located, so assuming a red light wasn't run and the car wasn't turning, the driver would have the right of way.
That said, there is no excuse for fleeing the scene, no matter who had the right of way. And yes, there has been far too much tragedy in Baristaville lately. The bad news keeps getting worse.
True dat, bonedog. I was thinking the same thing.
It was either some "citizen" w/o a license from "points east" on bloomfield ave,,or some yuppie from this area who wanted to get home to a latte' or to watch the 50" tv daddio.
I think it would be a good thing to close the Diva lounge.
Social ills are unfortunately never in short supply, but the act of striking someone with a car and not stopping to render help is beyond barbaric. This someone was a sweet and handsome young man who was soon going to turn 25. Fun to talk to and full of dreams for what the future might hold. He was my best friends little brother and will be missed terribly. Thank you baristanet for reporting on this. My hope is that people who witnessed this tragedy will step forward so that justice may be served. Javier will be missed dearly.
I'm very sorry for Javier's family and friends. Nothing could excuse or absolve a driver in a hit and run.
What a terrible week for so many local families.
Cynn, I'm truly sorry for your & the family's loss and hope that the MPD continues its campaign to ticket drivers who do not stop for pedestrians.
man, that is really scary.
I dated Javier a few years ago, he is from South Florida. We just learned of the news yesterday and have been hit very hard from this awful tragic accident. If anyone has more info as to why Jav was even in NJ please contact me at tmongello@yahoo.com This is a very sad day for his old friends that had lost contact with him. Thank you