By Michael J. Feeney
The Record
BERGEN COUNTY — One of three Bergen County motorcycle officers involved a crash following a funeral detail lost his leg and remained hospitalized Friday morning, police said.
Doctors amputated a Bergen police sergeant’s leg after his motorcycle collided with a truck Thursday.
Bergen County Police Sgt. William Koretsky, 46, had some type of trouble negotiating a hill on Route 9W in Orangetown, N.Y., when his cycle collided with a box truck heading south, said Lt. John McAndrew of the Orangetown police.
Doctors later had to amputate Koretsky’s left leg at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., McAndrew said.
“We don’t know if he hit a rut or if he was avoiding something in the roadway,” said McAndrew, noting the accident remains under investigation.
The crash caused a chain reaction involving two other officers on motorcycles, one from Cresskill and the other from Ridgefield, said McAndrew.
Creskill patrol Sgt. Bert Looby, 43, suffered a broken collar bone and broken hand. He was treated at Nyack Hospital and released, said Cresskill police Chief Stephen Lillis.
Ridgefield Officer Ian Shaw, 48, a 12-year-veteran, was treated for injuries at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck and released Thursday night, said Ridgefield police Chief Richard Stoltenborg.
The driver of the truck, Rey Fabian, 26, of Paterson, and his two passengers weren’t injured, said McAndrew, adding that Fabian hadn’t been charged with anything.
The officers had participated in a funeral procession for the 20-year-old son of an Alpine police officer who had died of cancer.
The group was returning from the funeral service in Alpine and heading to the father’s home in Old Tappan when the accident occurred around 2:15 p.m. Thursday.
Copyright 2008 The Bergen Record