NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A New Brunswick man was driving drunk when he drove the wrong way and caused a head-on collision with another car on Sept. 20, killing the other driver, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Linda Estremera and New Brunswick Police Chief Vincent Sabo.
The fatal crash occurred early in the morning, 2:47 a.m., September 20 on Jersey Avenue near Triangle Road in the city of New Brunswick.
Alexcis Merino, 25, of New Brunswick, was driving a 2017 Honda Accord that crashed head on into a 2009 Toyota Corolla driven by Andres Gracia-Bobadilla, 26, also of New Brunswick.
The preliminary investigation, conducted by New Brunswick Police Officer Edward Bobadilla and Detective James Barnes of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, determined that Merino was under the influence of alcohol. He was also speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road when he struck Gracia-Bobadilla's vehicle head-on.
There is no indication there was drag racing involved in the crash, said a spokesperson for the Middlesex County Prosecutor. (Drag racing, with sometimes fatal results, has become common on New Jersey roads and highways.)
Both were transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Gracia-Bobadilla was the more seriously injured of the two men and he died of his injuries six days after the crash.
Merino received minor injuries.
Merino was arrested without incident Tuesday and charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter and second-degree vehicular homicide.
Anyone with information is asked to call Bobadilla of the New Brunswick Police Department at 732-745-5200 or Detective Barnes of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at 732-745-3437.
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