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Aggravated manslaughter charge for ZZ Top fan in friend’s Route 80 death in Elmwood Park

YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A Morris County man charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of his friend after their car crashed on Route 80 in Elmwood Park on their way home from a ZZ Top concert in Englewood remained held on $500,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following a court appearance this morning.

Photo Credit: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia
Photo Credit: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF
Photo Credit: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia

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YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A Morris County man beat his friend to death after their car crashed on Route 80 in Elmwood Park and then walked away following a ZZ Top concert in Englewood, a prosecutor revealed this morning. READ MORE….

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New Jersey State Police said Jared Clackner was a passenger in a blue 1996 Oldmobile Sierra that crashed into the divider at milepost 61.6 following an argument with the driver,  61-year-old William Henning, as the Denville men returned from BergenPAC Tuesday night.

Authorities said they were withholding specifics of what followed while investigators assemble a case for grand jury review.

SEE: Englewood concert-goer killed, friend charged in Route 80 crash in Elmwood Park (MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF)

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer formally served Clackner with a complaint charging him with first-degree aggravated manslaughter by recklessly causing the death of Henning.

Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian entered a not-guilty plea for Clackner, a 53-year-old self-employed painter and father of two, and continued his bail with no 10% option.

The judge told Clackner that the charge carries the additional weight of an action committed “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

He said the case will now move to a grand jury for consideration of an indicttment, told Clackner he has the right to counsel and explained how he could get a public defender if he can’t afford a private attorney.

If Clackner is released on bail, Jerejian said, he must surrender all firearms and his passport and cannot leave the state while the case is pending.

Jared Clackner (STORY / PHOTOS: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia)

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