OLD BRIDGE — Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief William Volkert of the Old Bridge Police Department announced that a Neptune woman has been charged with causing a crash in which her rearseat passenger was killed and she and two others were injured.
Nakoma Jones was charged with death by auto and assault by auto after police determined she was intoxicated when the car she was driving crossed into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head-on.
Her rear seat passenger, Gustavo Rodriguez, of Neptune, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred Sept. 6 at 3:38 a.m. on Route 516.
Jones, who also was injured in the crash, was treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Bail was set at $160,000.
The front-seat passenger, a woman from Asbury Park, was treated at the hospital for injuries and released.
The driver of the car that was struck also was hospitalized at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. The driver was identified as a woman from Cedar Grove.
An investigation by Officer Henry Penley, of the Old Bridge Police Department, and Detective Craig Marchak, of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, showed that Jones was driving a 2009 Lincoln MKS east on Route 516 in Old Bridge when her car crossed into oncoming traffic near Mannino Park Drive and crashed into a 2011 Sonata.
The investigation is active, and anyone with information is asked to call Officer Penley of the Old Bridge Police Department at 732-721- 5600, or Detective Marchak of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3254.
As is the case with all criminal defendants, the charges against Jones are merely accusations, and she is presumed innocent until proven guilty.