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.