Four-Car Crash Injures Five

DIAMOND BEACH – Officers with the Lower Township Police Department responded to Ocean Drive in Diamond Beach for a report of a four car motor vehicle accident with injuries Sept. 6 at approximately 7 p.m.  
Upon arrival, officers observed three vehicles in the roadway and one vehicle in the marsh. 
Investigation of the accident scene revealed Carol Hopkins, of Hanover, Pa., was stopped in traffic facing south on Ocean Drive when she attempted to make a u-turn and was struck by a second vehicle operated by Anthony Vella, of Harrisburg, Pa.  
Prior to impact, Vella was traveling north on Ocean Drive. Vella’s vehicle, after colliding with Hopkins’s vehicle, veered into the southbound lane where it struck a third vehicle operated by Thomas Mallios, of Camp Hill, Pa.
Mallios’s vehicle was also stopped in traffic in the southbound lane. After striking Mallios’s vehicle, Vella’s vehicle left the roadway and came to rest in the marsh.  
Due to the force of the impact, Mallios’s vehicle was pushed backwards into a fourth vehicle stopped in traffic, causing minor damage to it. The driver of that vehicle, Sabrina Broadbent, of Wildwood Crest, was uninjured.
Three people from the accident were airlifted to Atlantic Cape Medical Center for treatment of their injuries, while two others were transported to Cape Regional Medical Center by the Lower Township Rescue Squad.  
The current condition of those taken to area hospitals is unknown. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. 
This accident is being investigated by Patrolman Steven Flitcroft and Patrolman Jonathan Scheck. 
Members of the Wildwood Crest Police Department, Wildwood Crest, Erma and Coast Guard Fire Departments, Wildwood Crest and Lower Township Rescue Squads assisted on scene.