South Brunswick Man Drank, Caused Serious Rt. 1 Crash, Police Say

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Monmouth Junction man caused a serious car crash Saturday nightas he drove at a high rate of speed while intoxicated, with his two young children in the car, the Middlesex County prosecutor said.

Police said the crash occurred at 8:50 p.m. as Christopher Mertens, 40, was driving a 2018 Infiniti coupe on Route 1 just south of Route 130 in North Brunswick.

The car Mertens was driving rear-ended a 2003 Chevrolet Blazer, causing it to roll over and catch on fire, the county prosecutor said. The Blazer's driver, a 19-year old man from Chesterfield, New Jersey, was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and then was transferred to St. Barnabas Hospital for burns he sustained in the crash.

A passenger in the Blazer, a 21-year-old woman from Suffern, New York, was treated at Robert Wood and released. Mertens’ children were also taken to Robert Wood, police said.

Mertens, of the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick, was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated assault in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree, assault by auto in the third degree, endangering another person by knowingly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial risk of death in the third degree, three counts of assault by auto in the fourth degree, and obstruction of the administration of law in the fourth degree.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Patrolman Jason Zier of the North Brunswick Police Department at 732-247-0922, ext. 316, or Detective Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-4328.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow South Brunswick Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email carly.baldwin@patch.com