State police have charged an Ocean County man with drunken driving after an accident that killed a Middletown man on the Garden State Parkway Saturday night, NJ.com reported Sunday.
Kevin Donnelly, 43, died in the crash, which occurred when a car driven by Eric Pereira, 20, of Jackson struck the rear of Donnelly’s minivan around 11p in the southbound local lanes near mile marker 120, the Press reports.
NJ.com, citing State Police, says Donnelly, a father of five boys and a copy editor on the sports desk at the Staten Island Advance, was pronounced dead at the scene.
From the report:
The accident, which occurred around 11 p.m. Saturday on the Parkway South near mile marker 120, involved a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt colliding with the back of a 2004 Ford Freestar in the local lanes, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said.
The impact caused the Freestar to overturn, jump a guardrail and land in the express lanes, where a 2001 Toyota Sienna then struck it.
The Freestars driver, Kevin Donnelly, 43, an editor at the Staten Island Advance newspaper, was pronounced dead at the scene, Jones said. Passengers, Erin Small, 42, of Middletown, suffered internal injuries and was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in serious condition.
The Freestars second passenger, Kenneth MacKenzie, 48, of Jersey City, suffered neck and back pains and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Jones said, adding the driver of the Sienna was uninjured.
The Cobalts driver, Eric Pereira, 20, of Jackson, was uninjured and charged with driving while intoxicated, Jones said. He was released on his own recognizance, though Jones added the investigation continues.
