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CENTRAL JERSEY: Police probing cause of a fatal crash

By Mary Brienza, The Packet Group
   A three-car crash on New Road in South Brunswick killed a man and sent four others to hospitals early Sunday afternoon, police said.
   Police said township resident Richard Russell, 51, of South Brunswick was pronounced dead at the scene.
   The accident took place near the entrance to Woodlot Park and caused New Road to be closed from Route 1 to Wheeler Road in Kendall Park for much of the afternoon, said police spokesman Sgt. James Ryan.
   Rescue crews took 45 minutes and had to cut the roof off of one of the cars to remove Franklin resident Firozaden Mansuri, 33, who was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where she was listed in critical condition, according to police.
   South Brunswick resident Amy Paulmann and her children, ages 3 and 4, were taken to St. Peter’s University Hospital where they were treated and released Sunday, police said.
   ”Lucky for them, the two children were strapped in their seats,” said Lt. Robert Carinci at the scene.
   According to police, Mr. Russell was heading east on New Road in a 2010 Hyundai Elantra. Witnesses told police that Mr. Russell was speeding and passing vehicles, and then he tried to go back into the eastbound lane when he struck the rear of a 2004 Mitsubishi driven by Ms. Paulmann.
   The collision sent her car off the road hitting a fire hydrant, utility pole and a tree, police said.
   Mr. Russell’s car then slid sideways across the westbound lanes, resulting in his car being broadsided by a 1994 Toyota driven by Ms. Mansuri, according to police.
   The Kendall Park Fire Department, the Monmouth Junction Fire Department, the Monmouth Junction First Aid Squad, and the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene.
   Police said investigators are looking into the possibility a medical condition might have contributed to the accident, and ask that anyone with information to call 732-329-4000.