HOBOKEN, New Jersey — Hoboken police announced on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, that a 25-year-old man has been arrested and charged over a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a pedestrian at the intersection of 15th and Hudson Streets in the early hours of Saturday, October 3. Andrii Gustal, of Haskell, New Jersey, was arrested at his home on Tuesday, October 27, after a follow-up investigation identified him as the driver, the Hoboken Police Department said. The charges are allegations: Gustal is presumed innocent unless convicted in court, and after being processed at Hoboken Police Headquarters he was released from custody on a summons.
Source: Hoboken Police Department statement, reported by The Hoboken Girl, October 28, 2026
What happened on the night of October 3
According to the Hoboken Police Department, the crash happened at 12:55 a.m. on Saturday, October 3, 2026. A 39-year-old Hoboken resident was crossing 15th Street when she was struck by a vehicle travelling on 15th Street, and the driver fled west on 15th Street in a dark-coloured SUV without stopping. Second Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, whose ward includes the intersection, gave a fuller account in a letter to residents: the driver was travelling north on Hudson Street, turned left onto 15th Street without stopping at the intersection, struck the woman in the crosswalk while she was walking her dog, and then fled, leaving her seriously injured in the street.
The woman sustained serious injuries. She was treated at the scene by the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps and transported to an area hospital. Mayor Emily Jabbour said at the time that the woman remained in intensive care, and Fisher later told residents that neighbours came to the woman's aid and that Hoboken police and emergency medical services responded quickly. By the time of the arrest announcement, the woman had been discharged from hospital and was recuperating with family, and her dog was with her, Fisher said.
How investigators identified a driver
The department's Traffic and Transportation Bureau and Detective Bureau investigated the crash. Neighbouring buildings provided surveillance footage to police — Fisher said buildings around the intersection, including her own, handed over camera video, including footage showing the car speeding away. A follow-up investigation by Det. Sgt. William Collins, Det. Connor Milne, Det. Anthony Azzoline and Det. Nicholas Protopapadakis of the Detective Bureau and Street Crimes Unit identified Gustal as the driver involved in the crash, police said. Police had publicly appealed for information and video, and had urged the driver to turn himself in.
The charges Gustal faces
Police said Gustal was charged with assault by auto, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury, endangering an injured victim, and obstructing the administration of the law. He was also issued motor-vehicle summonses for failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to yield to a pedestrian, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to report an accident. The police update did not announce a court date. Anyone with information or video related to the crash can contact Det. Sgt. William Collins or Sgt. Francisco Rosa, or call Hoboken police at 201-420-2100, the department said.
"I am thankful for the hard work and dedication of the police department in ensuring the driver is brought to justice. I am grateful that our neighbor was treated quickly and continues to recover at home. This horrible incident only reinforces Hoboken's ongoing commitment to road safety and eliminating all traffic deaths and injuries by 2030." — Mayor Emily B. Jabbour, after the arrest announcement
A corner residents already feared
The crash landed on an intersection residents had long flagged. Fisher said that in roughly 30 seconds of surveillance footage from buildings around the crash, six vehicles travelled through the intersection without coming to a complete stop. "What happened Friday night was reckless driving," Fisher said in her statement to residents. "We cannot prevent every reckless act by a driver. But we can do everything reasonably within our control to make our streets safer and reduce the risk to our neighbors." Jabbour, addressing the crash earlier in October, said she had asked the city's transportation planners and engineers to survey the intersection: "While we don't yet know the contributing factors of this crash, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to make our streets and intersections safer for everyone."
What the city has already changed at 15th and Hudson
The city's Department of Transportation and Parking has installed a package of safety improvements at 15th and Hudson: an LED flashing stop sign, reflective pavement markings and signage including stop signs and crosswalk markings to improve nighttime visibility, daylighting using flexible delineators at the corners, and new pedestrian crossing signage. The city said it will add further traffic-calming measures at the intersection in the coming weeks. Hoboken is a dense, highly walkable Hudson County city directly across the river from Manhattan, and its streets are used daily by large numbers of pedestrians and commuters — including many families from New Jersey's Punjabi and wider South Asian diaspora who live and travel across Hudson and neighbouring counties — which is why a single late-night crosswalk crash drew a citywide response.
What happens next
Gustal's case now moves into the court process on the charges and summonses listed by police; the department has not announced a first court date, and the investigation file remains open to further information from the public. For residents, the next test is on the street itself: whether the new signage, daylighting and promised traffic calming slow drivers at 15th and Hudson, an intersection Fisher has made the centre of her pedestrian-safety push. Awaaz Punjab will follow the case when a court date or further police update is announced.