BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — A 17-year-old township resident sustained serious injuries when his 1998 Jeep Cherokee went out of control and rolled over during a late-evening accident on Feb. 18.
The accident occurred on Smallwood Lane in the Monmouth Heights development at 11:49 p.m. Feb. 18, according to police. The driver, Carl Conti, 17, of Heather Drive, and one of two 16-year-old male passengers were transported to area hospitals for treatment.
“The driver lost control of the vehicle causing it to overturn and come to rest on the passenger side,” Manalapan police Lt. Lloyd Drucker wrote in a Feb. 19 press release. “The driver received injuries to his head and was flown by New Jersey State Police helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, for trauma, where he was listed in serious condition on Feb. 20.”
Police Capt. Louis Moreto said on Feb. 21 that the latest update from the medical center indicated that Conti should make a full recovery.
One of the 16-year-olds who was in the Jeep was transported to CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, for evaluation and the second 16-year-old refused medical treatment. Moreto said he did not hear that anything significant happened to the 16-year-old who was transferred to CentraState for evaluation.
Assisting at the scene of the accident were the Gordons Corner Fire Co., the Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad and MONOC paramedics.
“Two crews extricated one person from the vehicle and one crew set up a landing zone for the helicopter. The patient was then transported via helicopter,” Fire Chief Mike Lennox said.
First aid squad Capt. Robert Di Tota said, “Our people were stabilizing the patient [Conti] while the extrication was going on. They patched the person up and got him ready for the [helicopter]. That patient was taken to Jersey Shore with head trauma.”
Di Tota said one of the two passengers in the vehicle had minor injuries and was transported to CentraState. The third youth was checked out at his house and signed a form refusing treatment.
Police Sgt. Jeffrey Morrell said the cause of the accident is still under investigation by traffic safety officers Robert Pease, George Heitz and Robert Mullin.
Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is asked to contact Lt. Glenn Essner at (732) 446-8383.