2 Men Killed in Raritan River Crash Were Drag Racing, Family Says

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The two men who were killed Monday after their car drove into the Raritan River in New Brunswick were drag racing with another vehicle, a family member told NJ.com Tuesday.

As Patch first reported, at 12:56 a.m. Monday, the New Brunswick Police Department received a report of a motor vehicle crash in the area of Route 18 north, just past the exit ramp for Route 27, police said. Upon arrival, officers found a 2009 Honda Accord, which went through a wooded area and landed partially submerged in the Raritan River, police said.

The driver, Robert J. Veras-Toribio, 22, from North Brunswick, was found unresponsive and unconscious just outside the vehicle, police said. The passenger, Kelvin Lantigua, 21, also from New Brunswick, was located in the vehicle. He was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Christopher Lantigua, 19, said he was in the car with his brother Kelvin, and Robert, just before the car plunged into the Raritan River. He got out of the car to get some food with his girlfriend just before the drag racing started, he said.

"They were racing," Christopher Lantigua, 19, said Tuesday, according to NJ.com. "Supposedly Robert lost control of the car. They were going pretty fast."

That night was the last time he saw his brother alive.

"I can't believe it now. I could have been gone as well. If it weren't for my girlfriend I probably would be dead .... Emotionally, right now, I'm numb," he told the NJ.com reporter. "I'm so blank; I am not even crying. I can't — I don't even know what to do.

He said his brother and Robert knew the other driver they were racing against. He said another friend rushed to the crash scene, jumped into the Raritan River and tried to save the two young men, but it was in vain.

"He wasn't able to pull them out," Lantigua said. "He probably couldn't find him."

Veras-Toribio's body was located by friends and officers, who arrived on scene and began to administer CPR. Medic units arrived, and shortly after he was pronounced dead at the scene.