By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Ocean County announced that on March 7, at approximately 5:50 a.m., Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to the area of Route 70 and Airport Road in reference to a motor vehicle crash involving multiple vehicles.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer stated that responding Officers determined that the crash involved a total of eight vehicles.
According to OCPO officials, a subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that a Cadillac CT5 Blackwing was traveling westbound in the eastbound lane of Route 70 at a high rate of speed.
The Cadillac collided head-on with a Mazda CX5, and subsequently struck additional vehicles before coming to rest. The Cadillac then caught fire with the driver trapped inside, Ocean County officials said.
OCPO officials say the driver of the Cadillac was ultimately extracted from the vehicle and airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune, and subsequently transported to Weill Cornell Medicine Burn Center in New York City, where he is listed in critical condition.
The driver of the Mazda was likewise airlifted to JSUMC, where he is also listed in critical condition, according to Ocean County authorities.
Ocean County officials said the drivers of the remaining vehicles involved in the crash were uninjured.
The crash remains under investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, OCPO officials stated.