New Jersey governor breaks leg, ribs in motorcade crash

Gov. Jon S. Corzine was critically injured Thursday when his motorcade crashed en route to a meeting between radio personality Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team, a doctor said.

Corzine, 60, suffered numerous broken bones but his injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said. He was recuperating early Friday at Cooper University Hospital in critical but stable condition after two hours of surgery to repair a seriously damaged leg and other injuries.

Dr. Robert Ostrum, who performed the surgery, said it was successful but noted that the governor would need two more operations on his leg in the coming days. Doctors also inserted a breathing tube that would remain "for days to weeks, until (Corzine) is able to breathe on his own again," Ostrum said.

Corzine, who was conscious when he arrived at the hospital, had a broken sternum, a broken collarbone, a slight fracture of his lower vertebrae, a broken left leg, six broken ribs on each side and a laceration on his head, said Dr. Steven Ross, head of trauma for the hospital. He did not sustain any brain or spinal cord damage, doctors said.

Corzine was riding in the front passenger seat in his two-car motorcade's sports utility vehicle around 6 p.m. EDT when a white pickup truck swerved to avoid a red pickup truck on the Garden State Parkway, authorities said. The red pickup had corrected itself after driving onto the right shoulder, said State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes.

The white pickup slammed into the passenger side of Corzine's vehicle, causing the driver's side to strike a guardrail. Authorities were still searching for the red pickup truck and its driver.

The trooper driving the vehicle, Robert Rasinksi, suffered minor injuries but was resting comfortably, Fuentes said. An aide to the governor also was in the vehicle, but was not injured.

"It looks as if the trooper did a tremendous job doing what he could to maintain control of that vehicle," Fuentes said.

Fuentes and Ross said it was unclear whether the governor was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash.

The doctor said Corzine's femur broke through his skin and was broken in two places. A rod was inserted in the leg, and additional operations were scheduled to be performed on Saturday and Monday.

Ostrum said it would be at least three to six months before Corzine could walk normally.

Corzine had been in Atlantic City, but was returning to the governor's mansion in Princeton for the meeting between Imus and Rutgers.

Imus was fired from his radio program Thursday amid furor about racially charged comments he made about the team on air. The closed-door meeting went on without Corzine, and lasted for about three hours.

While Corzine is hospitalized, state Senate President Richard Codey will serve as acting governor.

Corzine, a Democrat, went into politics after being ousted from Goldman Sachs, where he had been CEO, in a power dispute in 1999. He was elected to Congress the following year.

Corzine gave up his seat in the U.S. Senate to become governor in 2006. He succeeded former Gov. James McGreevey, who resigned after saying he had an extramarital affair with a man.

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Associated Press Writer Angela Delli Santi in Trenton contributed to this report.