'Terrible' Accident in Port Monmouth Wednesday

Port Monmouth, NJ - A Patch reader wrote in to say that she witnessed a "terrible" accident involving a Port Monmouth First Aid Squad vehicle Wednesday afternoon. Middletown police confirmed an accident did take place.

The accident happened on Highway 36 at Wilson Avenue Wednesday, Det. Lt. Paul Bailey confirmed. At around 12:45 p.m., the first responder vehicle pulled out of the First Aid Squad parking lot and tried to cross the road, the eyewitness said. It had its lights and siren going, said Frank Brancati, Captain of the Port Monmouth First Aid Squad.

"Several cars pulled to the side to allow him to go," the eyewitness said. However, a garbage truck failed to stop, Brancati said. The garbage truck hit four different cars and pushed one car into a pole by the Wilson Avenue Deli, the eyewitness said.

"The woman's airbags were deployed and she was visibly shaken and taken away in an ambulance. There was also another woman sitting on the curb of Rt. 36 with her dog, crying and visibly shaken," she said.

No charges have been filed against any driver, and the crash remains under investigation, Lt. Bailey told Patch. There were no life-threatening injuries in the crash.

"Causes/responsibility is still being determined," he said.