Route 539 Fatal Crash Caused By Swatting At Bug, Prosecutor Says

A head-on crash on Route 539 in Plumsted Township that killed a Millstone man and injured two other men was caused by a bug in the car, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.

“This accident highlights how even the slightest driving distraction can have tragic consequences,” said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Alexander Pannizzo, 18, of Millstone, died at the scene of the accident, which happened shortly before 10 a.m. on Nov. 9. Pannizzo was a passenger in a 1995 Chevy Camaro Z28 driven by Dylan Magee, 19, of Millstone. The two were en route to classes at Rowan University at the time of the crash, Della Fave said.

They were southbound and crossed the center line into the path of a 2014 Peterbuilt tractor trailer, driven by Norman Bird Jr., 73, of Allentown, which was northbound on Route 539, and collided head-on, he said.

Both Magee and Bird survived the crash and were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

The investigation by the Plumsted Township Police Department, the prosecutor’s office and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Dept CSI found that both the driver and passenger were distracted while swatting at an insect within the car, causing the car to drift across the highway center line, Della Fave said.