Crash That Killed Hoboken Priest, Sister, Claims Another Sister: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — A June 4 crash on Route 537 that killed a Hoboken priest and his sister has claimed the life of their sister, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said Tuesday.

Antoinette M. "Shirley" Gallina, 85, of Cliffside Park, who was sitting in the right front passenger seat of a Dodge Caravan, died Friday at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, said Charles Webster, spokesman for the prosecutor's office. According to her obituary on the Konopka Funeral Home website, she is the sister of the Rev. Michael Guglielmelli, 81, a beloved retired Hoboken priest, and Dolores Guglielmelli, 87, both also of Cliffside Park, who died the evening of the crash.

Helen Gallina-DeLuca, 54, of Freehold Township, Antoinette Gallina's daughter, who was seated in the right rear seat at the time of the collision, remains hospitalized at Jersey Shore, Webster said.

The collision happened about 6:45 p.m. while a 2012 Honda Ridgeline and 2005 Dodge Caravan were both traveling eastbound along Route 537 (West Main Street) near the intersection with Wemrock and Stillwells Corner roads.

The Dodge Caravan, driven by Joseph Stasik, 55, of North Brunswick, was stopped and facing eastbound on Route 537 in right lane near Wemrock Road when the Honda Ridgeline, driven by Austin Janowski, 19, of Freehold Township, rear-ended the Caravan, Webster said. Both vehicles sustained significant damage in the collision, he said.

Stasik was taken to Jersey Shore and was treated and released, Webster said; Janowski, the sole occupant of the Honda, sustained a minor arm injury in the crash and also was treated and released, he said.

The crash remains under investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team, and Freehold Township Police Department, Webster said. No summonses or charges have been filed at this time.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or saw the movement of the Honda prior to the crash is asked to Freehold Township Police Officer Michael Smith at 732-462-7908, ext. 6189. Please leave a message with a contact number for call back, Webster said.

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