The first fatal Princeton Borough automobile accident in 15 years.
By: Jennifer Potash
An elderly Griggstown-area man who was a longtime Princeton University employee was killed in a single-car accident in Princeton Borough Wednesday afternoon.
Ole Lillestolen, 80, of Bunker Hill Road drove his 1995 Ford Escort westbound on Ivy Lane straight across the intersection at Washington Road, which requires a left or right turn. His car struck the stone wall on the west side of Washington Road on the Princeton University campus near the Center for Jewish Life, said Princeton Borough police Capt. Anthony Federico. The accident occurred at 12:58 p.m.
Borough police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the accident which is the borough’s first fatal automobile accident in 15 years.
At this point, the officers do not know what caused Mr. Lillestolen to crash into the wall at the intersection, which has a traffic signal, Capt. Federico said. It could have been some kind of medical problem, he said.
"We know he had a history," said Capt. Federico, declining to elaborate.
Mr. Lillestolen was transported by the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad to The Medical Center at Princeton, where he was pronounced dead.
Mr. Lillestolen began work in Princeton University’s maintenance department in 1967 and retired as a supervisor of maintenance in the Jadwin Hall physics building in 1989, said Marilyn Marks, spokeswoman for the university. He returned in 1994 as a temporary employee in the carpentry department, she said.
Mr. Lillestolen "had a presence" at Jadwin and was considered to be "a wonderful man" by the staff of the physics department, she said.
The first aid squad and the Princeton Fire Department responded, Capt. Federico said.
The squad responded with an ambulance and heavy rescue vehicle to extricate a patient in critical condition, squad Chief Greg Paulson said. A crew from Capital Health Systems was also on the scene, he said.
Washington Road was closed for about two hours, Capt. Federico said.
The fatality Wednesday was the first in the borough in 15 years. Three people were killed in traffic-related accidents in 1986.
Mark Knollar, 26, of Mount Bethel, Pa., was killed in May of that year when his Honda motorcycle struck an abutment on the Alexander Street bridge.
Fred Woodbridge, 26, of Hodge Road was killed in a two-car collision at the intersection of Paul Robeson Place and Bayard Lane in June of 1986.
Helen Turnbull, 84, of Hightstown was killed that September when a vehicle struck her as she crossed the intersection of Nassau and John streets.