“Now, I am going to tell you something you haven’t heard before. He was one of the kindest and one of the most caring human beings I had ever met,” said Dennis Micai of his late friend and benefactor Charl
By Jenine Clancey, Special Writer
”Now, I am going to tell you something you haven’t heard before. He was one of the kindest and one of the most caring human beings I had ever met,” said Dennis Micai of his late friend and benefactor Charles Inman.
Mr. Micai, who is the Executive Director at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) knew that the story of his friend had already been told dozens of times before, for his organization and many others had received thousands of dollars in donations from The Battle Against Hunger bike tour, a charitable organization founded by Mr. Inman.
Charles “Chuck” Inman, 67, of the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick Township was killed when his car was hit from behind by a Mack truck on Route 1 in West Windsor on March 20.
The driver of the truck, Lorin Fisher, 65, of Philadelphia was charged with driving while intoxicated and death by auto, according to the West Windsor Police Department.
Mr. Fisher works for the Tri-State Intermodal Inc. trucking company in Philadelphia, according to an unidentified employee contacted Wednesday.
The employee refused to comment on Mr. Fisher or his previous driving record at the firm.
According to the company’s website, Tri-State Intermodal is the number one container trucking company in Philadelphia Port, and is located less than a mile from Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
Mr. Fisher appeared in court for a bail hearing Thursday morning via videoconference from the Mercer County Detention Center.
Judge Pedro J. Jimenez Jr. agreed to lower his original $300,000 cash only bail to $150,000.
During the hearing, assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Lew Korngut told the judge that Mr. Fisher had registered a .07 on a breath test, below the legal limit. Results of a blood test are pending, he said.
Mr. Korngut said Mr. Fisher had told police that he been drinking, having had a shot of gin and beer earlier in the day.
Mr. Korngut said Mr. Fisher had failed a field sobriety test and had smelled of alcohol. Mr. Korngut said he thinks that Mr. Fisher had probably fallen asleep at the wheel of the tractor-trailer.
In terms of a criminal record, he has none in New Jersey, but he has a conviction in Pennsylvania from the early 1970s for what Mr. Korngut said he thought was “probably” gambling.
Public Defender Jenna Casper told the judge that Mr. Fisher has no prior DWI or major violations.
She said he is a former Marine, and that he has been a truck driver since 1973.
The Philadelphia resident lives with and takes care of his 85-year-old mother, Ms. Casper said.
She had sought a bail reduction down to $50,000.
The case next heads to a Mercer County grand jury, Mr. Korngut said..
Mr. Inman’s wife Pamela, 67, was seriously injured in the crash, police said.
The Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton released a statement Wednesday saying she was in “fair condition.” There was no word on when she was expected to be released.
The Battle Against Hunger was one of many ways Charles Inman gave back. He served in Vietnam, was a successful businessman, son, father and husband, friends said this week.
”He was a very deeply loving and giving individual,” said Phyllis Jones Administrative Coordinator at the Battle Against Hunger. “He always looked out for others before considering himself.”
The organization has raised $650,000 during the past 11 years for local hunger relief efforts. Last year, in September of 2013, saw 40 riders travel down a 200-mile route.
Mr. Inman, along with his wife, were members of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pennington.
Ms. Jones explained the Battle Against Hunger is continuing to grow in the wake of Mr. Inman’s death and is partnering up with the Jubilee of Ministries Office of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey.
”This is a dream Chuck had right from the beginning,” said Ms. Jones. “Ironically enough the Saturday after he died we had already had a meeting scheduled to further that effort. The amount of energy and enthusiasm that came from the folks was just amazing.”
The 2014 tour is set to begin in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and will end in Washington Crossing Park.
Jaime Parker, who is a Manager of Programs at TASK says the location said a lot about Mr. Inman.
”Every year the ride would go to the battlefields at Gettysburg,” she said. “I know he was in awe of all the things the soldiers did for our country during the Civil War. It was about all doing more.” There was a story that both Ms. Jones and Mr. Micai told of their friend Chuck would make a point to ride in the back with the people who were having a harder time.
Mr. Micai said Mr. Inman always made a point to “keep people company and give them encouragement.”
”He called them turtles,” said Ms. Jones of Mr. Inman playfully. “It actually made it kind of cool to be a turtle.”
The Inman’s, who lived in the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick, had a Princeton mailing address, leading to some earlier reports that he was a Princeton resident.
In 2010, Charles gave an interview to Princeton’s Town Topics newspaper.
Columnist Jean Stratton, who interviewed Mr. Inman for the article, said she was shocked to hear of his death.
”I could hardly believe it,” said Ms. Stratton who remembered Mr. Inman as an incredibly vital and energetic person.
She said his death seemed impossible to happen in such a way after remembering a story he told her about being in the hospital for nearly two years after his helicopter was shot down in Vietnam.
She said her first impressions of Mr. Inman were that he was “very approachable and down-to-earth.”
She said his need to help others came at an early age.
”I think he was definitely influenced by his family, who instilled in him the importance of helping others,” said Ms. Stratton “From the time he was a young boy, he was aware of the family business providing food and supplies to people who needed help.”
That business was a wholesale distributor of food in Mr. Inman’s home state of Virginia.
Though Mr. Inman is gone, Ms. Jones say there is still much of him that will live on.
”I miss him in a way that goes deeper than words, but creates in me just that much more resolve to help continue and grow that beloved community in celebration of his life,” she said.
Staff writer Philip Sean Curran contributed to this report.

