Plainfield man charged in fatal crash on Route 1

EDISON — Police charged a Plainfield man in the recent crash that caused the death of a township woman, authorities said.

Chiwueze Ebere, 29, was charged with death by auto after his car struck the car in which Wupiju Lin, 70, was riding at Route 1 south and Plainfield Avenue in Edison at 11:34 p.m. June 27, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department.

Lin was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was pronounced dead at 12:22 a.m. June 28.

Ebere was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick. Bail was set at $50,000.

An investigation by Officer Joseph Chonka of the Edison Police Department and Detective Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Ebere, who was driving a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was heading south on Route 1 when he ran a red light and crashed into a 2002 Acura RL that was being driven by the victim’s husband, who was on Plainfield Avenue and was crossing Route 1.

Following the collision, the victim’s vehicle crashed into a third car, a 2011 Honda Civic, which was stopped on Plainfield Avenue and waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Two people in that vehicle were not injured, police said.

But a passenger in Ebere’s car, and the husband driving the victim’s vehicle, were taken to the New Brunswick hospital for examinations. The extent of their injuries, if any, were not immediately determined.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Chonka of the Edison Police Department at 732-248- 7400 or Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3711.