Ex-N.J. Teacher Praised For Recovery Had Heroin In Wrong-Way, Head-On Parkway Crash

Brenna Haase was often celebrated for the way she recovered from opiate addiction.

Haase had worked hard to get her life back together, and the New Jersey Reentry Corporation was proud to announce recently that she had been hired as the intake coordinator at the organization's Toms River location.

Now family and ex-co-workers are coming to grips with the news that the Lacey woman was charged Sunday with heroin possession in a wrong-way Garden State Parkway crash in Toms River.

"I look at Brenna and I see someone who has been failed," said Paul Williams, who worked as a case manager at the NJRC that ex-Gov. James McGreevey helped build up. He no longer works there.

Haase was even featured in a documentary called "Fall to Grace," which detailed McGreevey's work after resigning as governor in 2004, and she was shown in the film talking to McGreevey about her recovery.

"When I came here, my whole entire life started changing," she told McGreevey in the 2013 film.

Haase, 37, has been charged after driving the wrong way and then crashing head-on with another car on the Garden State Parkway, according to the State Police.

John Delaney, 52, of Toms River, as well as a boy passenger of the car that was hit head-on, were hospitalized at Community Medical Center with minor injuries.

Her mother, Donna, said Brenna remained hospitalized Monday with a broken ankle and neck injury. Haase has been charged with assault, possession of heroin, possession of a hypodermic syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia and DWI, the State Police said.

The New Jersey Reentry Corporation confirmed that Brenna Haase no longer works there but declined to elaborate.

The NJRC is a non-profit agency with a mission to remove all barriers to employment for citizens returning from jail or prison, and Haase's Linkedin page said she began work there in January.

That employment ended recently, and Williams believes the program "used" Haase to boast about the organization, even though he believes the program did little to help her.

Haase's story was featured in a 2014 NJRC executive summary that noted she had a falling out with her drug supplier, compelling her to turn to a more “traditional” drug dealer who gave her heroin to sniff to reduce the withdrawal symptoms.

Haase started getting arrested for stealing to support her habit. She became a "frequent flyer" in the court system for shoplifting and minor theft, according to the NJRC, and after assaulting a security guard at a T.J. MAXX , she was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence.

To avoid being fired, Haase quit teaching - but not before the Department of Education revoked her teaching license.

In "Fall to Grace," Haase talked bout how jail was no longer an option. "There's no treatment whatsover," she said. "There's no structure. It's like a holding tank."

Williams, however, said the program does not do the things it boasts of, often falling short in helping people return to the community from jail. He claims he's seen people often leave the program after a short stay, with little attention paid to them, and then return to drugs.

He said the program "should not be engaged by any Ocean County government, mental health, addiction or otherwise social service."

"That's why I've taken the step to call them out on it," he said.

Now Haase has found herself back in the court system.

At 2:47 p.m. on Sunday, troopers responded to milepost 80.8 on the southbound Garden State Parkway in Toms River for a two-car crash.

Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives determined that Haase was traveling northbound in a 2011 Hyundai Accent when she lost control of the car, traveled over the center median and struck a Nissan Maxima head-on.

During the crash investigation, troopers discovered that Haase was in possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. She was transported to Jersey Shore Medical Center, police said.

Additional charges are pending further investigation. Bail information will be updated when available.