Indian American Woman Charged in Crash that Seriously Injured Police Officer

NEW YORK, NY-A New York woman was speeding when she struck the median on a Jersey City highway early Tuesday morning and set off a chain reaction that has left a Port Authority police officer in critical condition, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.

Amandeep Tiwana, 27, of Flushing, New York, was arrested by members of the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit Wednesday afternoon and she was charged with assault by auto, a fourth-degree crime, Suarez said. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance at 9 a.m. on May 20.

Port Authority Police Officer Peter Siano, III, and three Jersey City Police Officers were securing the scene of an earlier crash and doing traffic control on the depressed roadway of Route 139 when Tiwana struck the divider, a JCPD radio car and then struck Siano. Two of the Jersey City police officers, detectives Christopher Monahan and David Valente, sustained minor injuries in the second crash.

In the initial crash, which occurred just after 12:30 a.m., a 32-year-old New York woman overturned her vehicle on the eastbound side of depressed Route 139. She was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center with minor injuries and has been released.

After the second crash, Tiwana was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center for examination and was released.

The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit is actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.

All information will be kept confidential.