Fatal Wildwood Car Rally Driver Faces Upgraded Charges

WILDWOOD, NJ — Charges filed against the at-fault driver in a crash at the unsanctioned H2oi rally last weekend have been upgraded, officials said.

Gerald White, 37, of Pittsburgh, was previously charged with two counts of death by auto, two counts of assault by auto, eluding, leaving the scene of an accident and violation of laws to protect public safety, officials said earlier this week.

Those charges have since been upgraded to two counts of aggravated manslaughter- extreme indifference, two counts of aggravated manslaughter - eluding police, two counts of aggravated assault - serious bodily injury, and two counts of aggravated assault - fleeing from police, according to Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland.

On Friday night, White was driving a 2003 Infiniti and hit a 2014 Honda Civic at the intersection of Burk and Atlantic avenues, officials said, and continued moving, hitting two pedestrians. White tried to flee but was arrested by police, they said.

Pedestrian Lindsay Weakland, 18, from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was hit and died at the scene, officials said. Timothy Ogden, 34, from Clayton, a passenger in the Honda, was taken to Atlantic City Medical Center where he died from his injuries, officials said.

Read More: Outrage After 2 Killed In Unsanctioned Jersey Shore Car Rally

White has multiple motor vehicle violations and license suspensions, and had been involved in a serious crash recently, NJ.com reported. White's father, Gerald T. White, said his son flipped a Pontiac Supercharger while going 80 miles per hour on the highway, the report said.

"He went airborne, then came down and smacked the barrier twice," he told the outlet.

He often worked with his son on cars and cautioned him about driving high-performance cars safely, the report said.

White remains in the Cape May County Correctional Facility.

The full circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation, Sutherland said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at (609) 465-1135, or the information can be reported anonymously through the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office Anonymous TIP System by visiting cmcpo.tips from any computer, tablet, or smart phone. Information can also be reported to the Cape May County Sheriff’s Tip Line at cmcsheriff.net and click on anonymous tip, or through the Cape May County Crime Stoppers, 609-889-3597.

"Make no mistake that the tragic and dangerous events over the last several days in Wildwood, Rio Grande, Seaville and surrounding communities are a direct result of the organizers of a pop-up car rally self-identified as H2Oi or H2O22," Sutherland said in a statement earlier this week. "Directing hundreds if not thousands of people driving high-performance vehicles to an area without any planning, staging or permitting created the chaos that led to these deaths and injuries."