Wednesday, February 25, 2015

FEMALE DRIVER REAR-ENDS RECYCLING TRUCK IN BRIDGEWATER, NJ AND DIES; 1 RECYCLING WORKER ALSO INJURED




FEBRUARY 25, 2015

BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY

Police are seeking witnesses to an accident that claimed the life of a 54-year-old township woman when car struck the rear of a Somerset County Recycling truck on Wednesday morning.

Lisa Rabke was driving east on Old York Road at about 8:06 a.m. when, police say, "for an unknown reason" her 2005 Honda Odyssey struck the rear of the truck near Milltown Road.

Witnesses to the accident are asked to call Bridgewater Township Traffic Safety Officer Jason Daunton at 908-722-4111, ext. 4174.

The recycling truck was being operated by Marvin Rodriguez, 34, a county employee, police say. The accident occurred just after another county employee, Eric Ellis, 51, had finished loading recycling materials into the truck and had stepped back into the vehicle, police said.

Rabke was flown by the State Police's medevac helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick where she died.  The helicopter landed at nearby Duke Island Park.

Ellis was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset where he was treated for a nonlife-threatening head injury.

The intersection was closed for more than four hours after the accident.
The crash is being investigated by the Bridgewater Police Department Traffic Safety Bureau, assisted by the Somerset County Crash Analysis and Reconstruction Team.

Somerset County Administrator Michael Amorosa said Wednesday afternoon he had no comment at this time on the accident.

Police are asking any witnesses to contact Bridgewater Traffic Safety officer Jason Daunton at 908 722 4111, Ex. 4174.