2 Dead In Route 22 Crash On Somerset County Border

READINGTON, NJ — A 26-year-old tow truck driver was fatally hit by a car while trying to remove a car from Route 22. The driver of the oncoming SUV also died.

On Tuesday, March 8, at around 3:03 p.m., a Readington Police Officer went to the area of Route 22 near the Phillips 66 Gas Station near the Somerset County border to help while a tow truck operator tried to remove a disabled vehicle from the center median cut-through, said Lt. Christopher DeWire.

The officer closed the left lane on the eastbound side of the highway so that the tow operator could safely remove the vehicle.

During this time, Gary Vondrasek, 86, of Lebanon, was driving a 2014 Cadillac Escalade west in the left lane when he drifted into the median and hit the unoccupied disabled vehicle as well as the tow truck operator, according to a preliminary investigation.

The tow truck operator, later identified as Seth Newton, 26, of Readington Township was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Escalade was given lifesaving treatment at the scene and taken to RWJ University Hospital Somerset but was pronounced dead once there, said DeWire.

As a result of the crash, all lanes on both sides of Route 22 between Old Highway 28 and County Line Road in Branchburg were closed for several hours.

This crash remains under investigation by the Readington Township Police Department and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office Forensic Analysis Collision Team.

Witnesses are encouraged to call Cpl. Wester with the Readington Township Police Department at 908-534-4031 or the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office at 908-788-1129.

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