Horrifying: Drivers Allegedly Overdose On Opioids In NJ Crashes

Opioids reportedly played a role in several New Jersey crashes this week – one of which involved a school bus driver who was revived with Narcan and later arrested after a crash, authorities said.

In another crash, the driver reportedly died. And in a horrifying incident at a gas station in Wayne, an intoxicated driver killed three people on Tuesday, authorities said.

Here is what happened this week:

School Bus Driver Revived With Narcan After Crash: Police

A school bus driver who was reportedly overdosing on heroin was revived with Narcan and later arrested after a crash in Newark on Wednesday.

Although several children were aboard the vehicle at the time, none were hurt, police said.

The crash took place at 1:10 p.m. when Lisa Byrd, 57, of Newark, was driving a bus with 12 children from the 14th Avenue School, all between the ages of 5 and 13, according to the Newark Department of Public Safety.

ABC7 reported that Byrd was high on heroin and in the process of overdosing when she was driving the bus with 12 special needs children despite not having a commercial drivers license. Read more here....

Man Charged With Death By Auto, DWI In Wayne Gas Station Crash

The intoxicated driver who killed three people after crashing into a Route 23 gas station Tuesday morning was charged with three counts of death by auto and aggravated manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes announced.

Victims Jon Warbeck, 50, of Fair Lawn and his 17-year-old son of Lincoln Park were inside a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro when the crash occurred, Valdes said. A gas station attendant, Lovedeep Fatra, 22, of Pequannock, was also killed in the crash, Valdes said.

The driver, Jason Vanderee, 29, of Glenwood, was overdosing on opioids at the time of the incident, PIX11 reported. NBC 4 New York reported that authorities administered Narcan to Vanderee at the scene. He suffered only minor injuries, PIX11 reported. He was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson for treatment. Read more here...

Death While Overdosing Behind-The-Wheel

A woman overdosed on heroin and died while operating a vehicle in Paterson on Thursday, according to authorities.

The incident happened at the intersection of East 18th Street and 10th Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Attempts to revive the patient using CPR failed, authorities said. This is a developing story; Patch will provide more details as they come in.