LAWRENCE: Driver in fatal lake crash in three other accidents that day

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The driver of a dump truck that struck a car and pushed it into Colonial Lake July 17 — killing its driver — had already been involved in three accidents earlier in the day, according to Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman.
That information was presented to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez during a bail reduction hearing Aug. 7. Dump truck driver Daniel Everett’s bail was initially set at $250,000, but Judge Jimenez reduced it to $100,000.
In two of the three accidents, the dump truck struck the rear of cars that were either stopped in traffic or were slowing down — one in Bordentown Township and the other in West Windsor Township. The third accident occurred when the dump truck left the roadway and drove over a lawn on Varsity Avenue, also in West Windsor Township.
The fourth accident took place in Lawrence Township and, like two of three earlier accidents, occurred when Mr. Everett did not slow down and struck the rear of a car in front of his dump truck. This time, the force of the impact pushed the car and its driver into Colonial Lake. The truck landed on top of the car, killing driver James McLean of Trenton.