SOUTH AMBOY – Investigators have developed new information on a fatal head-on collision that occurred on Easter Sunday morning, reversing the blame for the cause of the accident.
On April 25, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief Darren Lavigne of the South Amboy Police Department released new information about the crash in which two drivers were killed and three passengers were injured on Route 9 in South Amboy on April 16.
After reviewing evidence acquired during the investigation, it has been determined that Miguel Mendoza-Chong, 31, of Perth Amboy, and not Percell Livingston Jr., 51, of East Orange, was driving the wrong way on Route 9 north when their minivans collided, according to police.
The account of the collision was revised during the continuing investigation, which included information obtained from additional witnesses and video, according to officials. The video and the witness statements are part of the investigation and are not being released at this time.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene following the crash, which occurred in the northbound lanes of Route 9 at 2:15 a.m. The three passengers riding with Mendoza-Chong were taken to area hospitals: a 38-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick while a 28-year-old woman was treated at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy.
The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Stephen Clarke of the South Amboy Police Department at 732-721-0111 or Detective Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-8842.
