Drunk Netcong Man Seriously Injured After Crashing Into Truck, Cops Say

A Netcong man is accused of driving drunk after he was seriously injured Thursday afternoon when he crashed into a dump truck on Rt. 517 in Sparta, police said.

Anthony Barabato, 23, was driving a 2010 Cadillac DTS south on Rt. 517 as he entered Sparta into Ogendsburg around 1:44 p.m., Sgt. John-Paul Beebe said. A concerned motorist had called the Sparta Police Communications Center to report an erratic driver, Beebe said, but before the call was completed, that driver – Barabato – had crashed.

Barabato passed the Sparta Middl School and crossed over the double yellow lines, entering completely into the northbound lane, Beebe said. A 2014 MAC Tandem Dump Truck owned by EDG & Sons Trucking of Branchville was traveling north at that time, Beebe said.

The driver, Edward Gratcofsky, 58, of Dingman’s Ferry took “evasive action” to avoid a collision, Beebe said, but to no avail. Barabato struck the left side of the truck’s bumper, pushing and bending the front wheels of the truck back, striking and rupturing a 50-gallon fuel tank below the driver’s side door, Beebe said. Gratcofsky was uninjured, Beebe said.

Both airbags in Barabato’s vehicle deployed and the Cadillac sustained heavy front-end damage, Beebe said. The car bounced off the truck and came to a rest facing west in the southbound lane, where Barabato was trapped in the car with his legs pinned under the front-end damage, the report said.

The Sparta Fire Department released Barabato using the “jaws of life,” and he was transported by the Sparta First Aid Squad and Paramedics from St. Claire’s in Sussex to Morristown Medical Center.

During an investigation, officers found inside the Cadillac one consumed .5 liter bottle of Vodka, three consumed bottles and one partially consumed bottle of Stella Artois Hard Apple Cider, Beebe said.

Barabato was charged with driving while intoxicated in a school zone, consumption and possession of open containers of alcohol in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, failure to keep right, and talking on a cellular phone while operating a motor vehicle. Additional charges are pending and a court date is yet to be set.

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Photo courtesy Sparta Police Department.