BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Above, a New Jersey State Police trooper checks the interior of an automobile involved in a fatal accident on Route 539 in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold on Dec. 31. Below, a state trooper talks to one crime scene investigator while another one photographs the car involved in the fatal accident. UPPER FREEHOLD – Joseph Romanella, 66, and his wife, Patricia, 63, of Monroe, were killed when a Cream Ridge resident drove his pickup into their car on Route 539 on Dec. 31, according to the N.J. State Police.
Romanella was pulling his 1998 Honda Accord out of a parking lot across the street from Rick’s Saddle Shop in the Cream Ridge section of town at about 3:14 p.m. when 24-year-old Ramon Cervantes’ 1993 Chevy pickup, which was traveling southbound on Route 539, struck the driver’s-side door of his car, according to Stephen Jones, spokesperson for the state police.
A doctor from the Monmouth County Medical Examiner’s Office pronounced Joseph Romanella dead at the scene of the accident, according to Jones.
Patricia Romanella was transported by ambulance to Helene Fuld Medical Center in Trenton and then airlifted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she later died, according to Jones.
Cervantes was taken to CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, where he was treated for minor injuries and then released, Jones said.
All of those involved in the accident were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, according to the state police.
Cervantes faces criminal charges for vehicular manslaughter. He was also summoned for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, according to Jones.
Cervantes is being held in the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to Jones. Cervantes does not yet have a court date, he said.
Both vehicles have been impounded at J&L Auto in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, Jones said.
PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Above: A firefighter photographs the pickup truck that hit a Honda Accord on Route 539 in an accident that killed a Monroe couple on New Year’s Eve across from Rick’s Saddle Shop in Upper Freehold. Below: A crime scene investigator photographs the interior of the car involved in the fatal crash. lieu of $100,000 bail, according to Jones. Cervantes does not yet have a court date, he said.
Both vehicles have been impounded at J&L Auto in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, Jones said.
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