Steven Duchak of Fair Lawn Arraigned for Manslaughter of North Haledon Man
By Mary K. Miraglia
HACKENSACK, N.J. (May 15, 2017) — A Fair Lawn man who, in a rage, struck a relative stranger in the head as he was sitting in his truck was arraigned Monday, May 15 before Presiding Judge Margaret M. Foti for manslaughter.
Steven Duchak of 13 Smith Ave. Fair Lawn, 59, was standing outside his house last Sept. 23 when William Champin of North Haledon arrived to give Duchak’s girlfriend a ride. Unprovoked by Champin, who according to investigators was sitting in his truck parked in the driveway of a neighboring house, Duchak struck him in the head. Later that night Champin told his roommate “his head was throbbing and he couldn’t stand the pain.” He went to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson by ambulance, where his condition steadily deteriorated, the prosecutor’s office has said. The hospital placed him on the critical list Sept. 30, and he died Oct. 4.
Duchak was arrested for assault, and when Champin died a week and a half later the charges were upgraded to second degree manslaughter and an additional charge of causing serious bodily injury with manifest indifference to the value of human life.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Thomas Kearney, Homicide Unit, formally presented the charges contained in an April 28 indictment this morning.
Questioned by the judge, Kearney said prosecutors have made no plea offer to Duchak, but may. Foti placed the possibility of a plea on the record, and set Aug. 21 for plea cutoff.
Duchak and his attorney are free to plead guilty and make an offer. They will be back in court for a case disposition hearing June 19, with final case disposition date of July 31.
