GOSHEN — A Bridgeton resident was charged with driving while intoxicated after a four-vehicle motor vehicle accident on Route 47 at milepost 15.8 on June 21 at 3:43 p.m. that claimed a Vineland teen’s life.
According to a joint release, issued June 23 by County Prosecutor Robert Taylor and Middle Township Police Chief Joseph Evangelista, Laura Lippie, 47, of Bridgeton was operating a red Chevrolet Trailblazer northbound when she swerved into the ongoing traffic in the southbound lane.
Lippie’s vehicle then struck a motorcycle head-on that was southbound. Its driver, Vineland resident Joshua Moren, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Moren had been a “standout baseball player” at Sacred Heart High School, from which he had graduated on June 2, according to a report in the June 23 edition of The (Vineland) Daily Journal.
Two other vehicles were involved, a 2008 Toyota Scion driven by Orlando Vega, and a 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle drive by Dennis Beaulieu.
Both drivers were airlifted to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
According to several witnesses, Lippie was observed repeatedly crossing over the centerline into the southbound lane prior to the crash, and police believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor.
After being treated for non-life threatening injuries, Lippie was charged with vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated.
Municipal Court Judge Peter Tourison set bail at $75,000 full cash.
Detectives from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Middle Township Police Department and the Cape May County Fatal Crash Unit assisted in the investigation of the accident.
Taylor and Evangelista lauded all agencies involved.
There have been several serious accidents in that general area of the two-lane, heavily traveled highway where the speed limit is 50 mph.
