Fatal Route 9 Crash in Old Bridge: Police ID 3 Victims

Police identified the three victims in horrific fatal crash on Route 9 in New Jersey on Wednesday.

The three people were killed, and two more were seriously injured, in the Tuesday crash that happened at 12:30 p.m. on Rt. 9 North at Route 516, according to Old Bridge police.

The deceased were:

• William Fairchild Jr., 45, of Howell, who was killed while driving a blue Ford Escape that was traveling south on Route 9 when it crossed over into the northbound lanes, police said. The Ford collided with a Honda Accord traveling northbound after crossing a median with no barrier.
• The driver of the Honda, Hope T. Wells, 37, of Freehold, and her passenger, Charles H. Kleiman, 62, of San Rafael, Calif., police said.

Two passengers in the Honda, an 86-year-old woman and a 62-year-old woman, were injured in the crash and transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick,

Video footage from the scene captured by Eyewitness News shows two crumpled cars and skid marks on the roadway, circled by police in red chalk. A Manalapan woman driving by took photos of the crash scene.

The accident is under investigation, police said.

Route 9 north through Old Bridge Township was closed for hours due to the crash.