in early-morning crash
on Bordentown Avenue
Drunk driving suspected
in Saturday’s fatal crash
Old Bridge man killed
in early-morning crash
on Bordentown Avenue
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — A Sayreville man was due to be arraigned in township municipal court yesterday on charges of driving while intoxicated, aggravated manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in connection with a Saturday morning crash that resulted in the death of his friend.
Gregory Martin Kennedy, 20, of Driftwood Drive in the Parlin section, was released from the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, on Monday after posting $150,000 bail according to Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch, who is handling the case.
Both the county prosecutor’s office and township police are continuing to investigate the motor vehicle accident, which resulted in the death of Steven J. Epstein, 21, of the Parlin section of Old Bridge, one of two passengers in Kennedy’s vehicle.
Police reports indicate that Kennedy lost control of his vehicle as he drove on Bordentown Avenue in Old Bridge early Saturday morning, and that he swerved and crossed into the opposite lane.
When Kennedy’s vehicle struck a utility pole alongside the road, the impact caused Epstein to be ejected from the vehicle. Epstein, who sustained multiple injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Reports indicate that Kennedy apparently continued to drive on, even after Epstein was ejected, for another 3 miles and crossed the border into Sayreville. A borough police officer pulled him over on Jernee Mill Road in Sayreville after he nearly struck the officer’s patrol vehicle, police reports state.
Old Bridge police lodged the charges against Kennedy at 4:32 a.m. after locating Epstein’s body on Bordentown Avenue.
Authorities are awaiting the results of a blood-alcohol test given to Kennedy by police at the time of his arrest, Sewitch said. Those results should be available in about two weeks.
Alejandro Flores, 20, of Sayreville, the second of Kennedy’s two passengers, is reported to be recovering at home from injuries he received in the accident, according to sources.
Epstein, a 2000 graduate of Old Bridge High School, had previously attended Middlesex County College in Edison. He was employed as a check processor with the First Union bank in North Brunswick for approximately 18 months.
Epstein was also a member and team captain of the Phantoms Hockey Team in Rahway, Union County. He was a communicant of St. Bernadette’s Roman Catholic Church in the Parlin section of Old Bridge.
Epstein’s parents, Richard J. and Carolyn Mileto Epstein, live in Parlin, along with his brothers, Michael and Christopher.
Funeral services were scheduled for yesterday at the Carmen F. Spezzi Funeral Home in Parlin, followed by a Mass at St. Bernadette’s Church. Burial was to take place at Holy Cross Burial Park in South Brunswick.