Woman Killed As Vehicle Hits Disabled Trailer On Route 37: TRPD

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Monmouth County woman died early Monday morning when she was hit by a trailer while she tried to help a man whose motor home broke down on Route 37, Toms River police said Monday afternoon.

Anne M. Lovallo, 56, of Keyport, was killed in the crash that happened shortly before 6 a.m. near the intersection of Route 37 and Northampton Boulevard, said Jillian Messina of the Toms River Police Department.

Lovallo was helping Rocky Granata, 60, after his motor home with attached trailer after the motor home broke down in the right lane eastbound on Route 37, Messina said. Lovallo was standing between the trailer and the motor home when Michael Martinez, 62, of Jackson, hit the trailer, which hit and killed Lovallo.

The motor home and trailer had no lights and it was dark and foggy on Route 37 at the time, Messina said. Police said Martinez was "very cooperative" and gave authorities consent to search his phone and to take a blood sample.

Messina said authorities do not anticipate filing charges against Martinez at this point.

Granata, who police said is a transient from California, lived in Edison until he lost his home in 2015, according to a June 2019 report by SI Live.com. He was not injured in the crash.

He has been driving the motor home and trailer, which are covered in stickers and other items supporting President Donald Trump, all over the country. He told SI Live that he started supporting Trump after Bernie Sanders lost in the 2016 primary to Hillary Clinton, and estimated he's driven more than 43,000 miles in the motor home.

The accident is being investigated by Toms River Traffic Safety Officer Adam Koeppen. Also responding on scene was Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Crime Scene Investigators and Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office.

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