Man Faces Assault by Auto Charges for Crash After Allegedly Driving About 90 mph Down Amwell Road

A Hillsborough man has been charged with assault by auto for a crash that occurred last year on Amwell Road, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

Gregory J. Wall, 20, of Fourth Street in the Flagtown section of town, has been charged with one account of third-degree assault by auto and one count of fourth-degree assault by auto, the prosecutor's office said.

The charges are part of a criminal complaint filed against Wall, a release from the prosecutor's office read.

According to the release, the single-vehicle collision occurred on March 5, 2010 at about 9:24 a.m. According to the prosecutor's office, Wall's 2007 Mazda was traveling west on Amwell Road and was carrying two passengers—a 17-year-old juvenile, seated in the vehicle’s front seat, and Matthew Corcoran, 47, in the backseat.

The crash scene investigation later determined that Wall was allegedly traveling between 86.5 and 90.6 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone when he crashed the vehicle.

Upon arriving at the scene, Hillsborough Township Police officers reported finding Corcoran lying on the side of the roadway, about 48 feet west of the vehicle’s resting place. Further investigation revealed that Corcoran was ejected through the rear driver’s-side window of the car.

He was transported to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital for treatment of a forehead laceration, a fractured left shoulder blade, three posterior rib fractures, four lateral rib fractures and a hematoma, according to the release.

The juvenile was treated for left-side rib pain as a result of the collision.

During the ensuing investigation, officers reported detecting an odor of alcohol allegedly emanating from Wall’s breath and clothing, the prosecutor's office said. He was subsequently charged with driving while intoxicated.

Blood drawn at Hunterdon Medical Center and a laboratory analysis revealed a blood alcohol content of .14 percent, according to the release.

The Hillsborough Police and Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team conducted the investigation.