A Bergen County man is facing up to 10 years in state prison on charges he was intoxicated while he was behind the wheel of his Mini Cooper when it crashed on a Route 18 entrance ramp in Colts Neck in August, taking the life of his father, Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
Andrew Halder, 35, of Woodcliff Lake, was arrested and charged on Sept. 21 with vehicular homicide, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated and displaying a fictitious inspection sticker. The charges relate to a fatal motor vehicle collision on Route 18 in Colts Neck in August.
According to the prosecutor, Halder was operating a 2007 Mini Cooper that was occupied by his father, Gary Halder, just before 3 p.m. Aug. 30, when the Halders left a local golf club where they had played a round of golf earlier that day.
A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Colts Neck Police Department determined that after leaving the club, Andrew Halder, while operating the vehicle, attempted to enter Route 18 north from Route 537, and upon entering the ramp to Route 18, Halder’s vehicle hit the curb.
After it hit the curb, the car flipped and rolled, and Gary Halder was ejected from the vehicle. He was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, where he eventually died from the injuries he sustained during the collision, according to the prosecutor.
During the course of the investigation, it was determined Andrew Halder was allegedly operating the motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration in excess of 0.08 percent – the legal threshold for intoxication in New Jersey.
Andrew Halder was released after posting $100,000 bail, with a 10 percent option, as set by state Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.
If convicted of vehicular homicide, Halder faces up to 10 years in state prison.