Man Admits To Drunken Crash That Killed Road Worker On Route 9

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakehurst man has pleaded guilty in a 2025 crash that killed a road worker, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

Douglas P. Smith, 52, pleaded guilty on Monday before Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer to vehicular homicide in the July 31, 2025 crash that killed Allen Adams, 50, of Lumberton, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

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According to court documents, Smith was driving a 2017 Chevy Silverado north on Route 9 about 1 a.m. when he drove into an active NJDOT construction site near Dugan Lane. Adams, an employee of Earle Construction, was standing in the road "near a well-lit asphalt milling machine, wearing a reflective safety vest" when Smith hit him.

The responding Toms River police officers found Adams lying in the road with serious injuries and he was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where he was pronounced dead, the prosecutor's office said.

The machinery had flashing amber warning lights that were operating at the time, the prosecutor's office said.

After Smith hit Adams, he drove another 600 feet along Route 9 before stopping, the affidavit said.

As police officers spoke with him, they could smell alcohol "emanating from his breath," and his eyes were red and watery, according to the affidavit. Police performed field sobriety tests, with Smith matching six out of six showing impairment, the affidavit said. Authorities then sought a search warrant for a sample of his blood. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving that night, the prosecutor's office said.

In addition, the affidavit says Smith had a fictitious license plate number on the truck.

Laboratory testing showed Smith had a blood alcohol concentration of .151 at the time his blood was drawn, nearly twice New Jersey's limit of 0.08 where a driver is legally intoxicated, authorities said.

The blood tests also showed cocaine, fentanyl and methadone in Smith's system, the prosecutor's office said, and he was charged on Aug. 31, 2025, with vehicular homicide.

He was arrested Sept. 3, 2025, by U.S. Marshals after he was found at a residence in Toms River, the prosecutor's office said. Smith has been in the Ocean County Jail since then.

The two women who were arrested with Smith, Amy M. Thorn, 57, and Tammie M. Malek, 47, have had their cases ajudicated. They were charged with hindering apprehension after Thorn told authorities Smith wasn't at her apartment; Malek told authorities she didn't live there but later was determined to live with Thorn, the affidavit said.

Thorn pleaded guilty in the spring to the charge of hindering apprehension and was sentenced to time served and 3 years' probation. Malek pleaded guilty in August to a downgraded charge of giving false information, a disorderly persons offense, and was sentenced to time served.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23, and as part of the plea deal the prosecutor's office will be seeking a term of 10 years in prison, subject to the No Early Release Act, which requires 85 percent of the sentence to be served before Smith becomes eligible for parole.