PLUMSTED DOUBLE FATAL MVA
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On 4/23/2018, at approximately 10:50 am, the Plumsted Township Police Dept. responded to the area of Route 539 and Longswamp Road for a serious motor vehicle accident with injuries. Upon their arrival, police observed a Mack dump truck overturned in a field along Rt. 539 and a Lexus SUV with extensive driver side damage in the roadway.
Medical attention was immediately rendered, but tragically, paramedics pronounced the female driver and passenger in the Lexus SUV dead on the scene. The Lexus driver is identified as Nancy Harris, 79, of Newtown, PA. Her passenger is identified as Helen Conover, 84, of Hamilton New Jersey. The male dump truck driver, James Bevacqua, 58, of Little Egg Harbor was transported to Deborah Heart and Lung Center with minor back pain.
The accident investigation conducted by the Plumsted Township Police and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Fatal Accident Investigations Unit revealed that a PDC Trucking Company 2017 Mack GU7 (dump truck), driven by James Bevacqua was traveling northbound on Route 539, carrying approximately 20 tons of sand. As Bevacqua approached the intersection of Woodruff Road, the 2010 Lexus Rx350, driven by Nancy Harris, made a left onto Rt. 539 into the path of the dump truck to head south. It was at this time the Lexus was impacted on the driver’s side by the Mack truck.
Route 539 was closed for the accident investigation and roadway cleanup from 11 am until just after 3 pm causing extensive traffic delays in the area.