OLD BRIDGE – A 23-year-old township man was allegedly driving while intoxicated in a fatal motor vehicle crash that caused the death of two female passengers and injured another driver,
Tristan R. Rodriguez, 23, has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the second degree, and one count of assault by auto in the fourth degree, according to a statement provided by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Old Bridge Police Chief William Volkert.
The investigation began after police were dispatched to the scene of the crash on Englishtown Road near the JCP&L building in Old Bridge at 3:50 a.m. on July 6, police said.
The preliminary investigation has determined Rodriguez was allegedly intoxicated while driving an Acura on Englishtown Road when he crashed into the rear of a pickup truck, police said.
Two passengers, Krystal C. Diaz, 29, of Old Bridge, the passenger in Rodriguez’s car, and a 17-year-old female passenger in the other vehicle, whom police did not identify, were both pronounced dead at the scene from the injuries they sustained from the crash, police said.
Diaz’s mom Sauthy Felicies set up a Go Fund me page for her daughter, who said her daughter was on her way home, which was two minutes away. She said her daughter was “working hard at the Seville Diner [in Old Bridge] in the hopes to earn money to pay off student loans to continue her education.”
A 20-year old male, also from Old Bridge, who was driving the other vehicle was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. Rodriguez was also taken to the hospital for his injuries, police said.
The investigation into the fatal auto crash is active and continuing. Police Officer Steven Connolly of the Old Bridge Police Department and Detective Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office are leading the investigation
Anyone with information is asked to call Connolly at 732-721-5600 or Berman at 732-745-4328.