A man from Cumberland County was charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office after a fiery crash on Route 1 in April that killed three people in a van, authorities said.
Joseph Vega, 43, of Bridgeton was charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter and three counts of second-degree vehicular homicide in May and was arrested by U.S. Marshals on July 3 in Georgia.
The crash occurred at 9:36 a.m. on April 12 on Route 1 in South Brunswick when the tractor-trailer driven by Vega struck a Sprinter van at the Ridge Road intersection, which caused the van to hit two other vehicles, officials said. The van and the tractor-trailer traveled another 100 yards north of the intersection and caught fire, police said.
Driver Charisse Nelson-Bailey, 24, and passengers Daniel Vida, 28 and Maria Passalaris, 25, died following the crash in the van, which was traveling to Community Options in West Windsor. The agency serves adults with disabilities.
An investigation by South Brunswick Police Officer Bryan Sites and Middlesex Prosecutor’s Sgt. Jonathan Berman found the tractor-trailer was transporting an oversized concrete load when it failed to stop for a red light at the intersection, which resulted in the fatal crash.
Vega is being held in Georgia pending extradition to New Jersey, officials said.
The investigation is active and continuing. Anyone with information may call South Brunswick Police Officer Sites at 732-329-4646 or Sgt. Berman at the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-4328.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry