Teen Girl Hospitalized After Minibike, Minivan Crash In Manchester

MANCHESTER, NJ — A teenage girl was hospitalized after the minibike she was a passenger on and a minivan crashed in Pine Lake Park on Wednesday evening, Manchester police said.

The crash at the intersection of Commonwealth Boulevard and Pemberton Street was reported at 6:36 p.m., Capt. Albert Vega said.

A 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl were riding tandem on a red gas-powered minibike, and neither was wearing a helmet, Vega said.

They were riding north on Pemberton Street and ran the stop sign at Commonwealth Boulevard, riding into the path of a path of a gray 2012 Toyota Sienna, which was headed west on Commonwealth Boulevard and was driven by Rachel Lew, 36, of Lakewood, he said.

The girls were thrown from the minibike onto the road on Commonwealth, he said.

"Multiple witnesses on scene confirmed the sequence of events leading to the crash," Vega said.

The 14-year-old, who was driving the bike, had an ankle injury but declined medical treatment at the scene, he said.

The 13-year-old was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with non-life-threatening injuries, Vega said.

Lew and two children who were passengers in the minivan were not injured, Vega said.

Commonwealth Boulevard was closed for about 30 minutes while officers investigated the crash and cleared the road, he said.

Patrolman Anthony DeBlasio is investigating, but the preliminary finding is that failure to obey the posted stop sign by the minibike operator appears to be the primary contributing factor, Vega said.

Manchester Township Emergency Medical Services, paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Hatzolah, and Priced Rite Towing assisted at the scene, he said.