SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Police have charged a driver whose passenger was critically injured during a crash on Memorial Day.
Guadalupe Hernandez, 52, of New Brunswick, was reportedly driving with a suspended license when he crashed at 4:30 p.m. May 30, according to a statement prepared by the South Brunswick Police Department.
Hernandez was reportedly driving a 2008 Dodge pickup truck that was pulling a landscaping trailer with a skid loader in it, owned by Fantastic Creation Landscaping of Lawrence, eastbound on Deans Rhode Hall Road when the truck left the roadway and struck a tree.
The passenger in the truck, a male in his 20s, was trapped and had to be extricated by the Monmouth Junction Fire Department using the Jaws of Life, police said. He was taken by South Brunswick EMS and paramedics to the Dallenbach Sand Company property where a New Jersey State Police medevac transported him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
The young man is listed in critical condition with a serious head injury and internal injuries, police said. Police are still working to positively identify the passenger, according to the statement.
Hernandez was charged with a fourth-degree crime of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and being involved in a motor vehicle crash resulting in serious injury. Bail was set at $2,500.
In addition, he reportedly had warrants out of Freehold totaling $3,500 and East Brunswick totaling $1,000.
Hernandez was lodged in the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick pending his first court appearance, as of press time.
The South Brunswick Traffic Safety Bureau is continuing to investigate the crash. Anyone with information should call 732-329-4000, ext. 7472.
The Middlesex County Road Department assisted with the road closure.