FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A motor vehicle crash at Siloam and Old Turkey Swamp roads in Freehold Township on the morning of July 6 claimed the life of a Jackson woman, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
Debra Vattelana, 55, was pronounced dead at 9:42 a.m. as a result of a head-on collision, he said.
Freehold Township police responded at 8:54 a.m. to a report of a two-vehicle head-on collision. On scene they found Vattelana was ejected from her 2009 Nissan Altima. The prosecutor said she had been traveling southbound on Siloam Road.
An investigation revealed Vattelana was ejected from the vehicle after she attempted to negotiate a right hand curve, lost control of her vehicle, crossed the center line and collided head-on with a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder traveling northbound on Siloam Road.
Gramiccioni said Vattelana sustained immediate life-threatening injuries and was transported to CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, where she died.
Rada Shakov, 40, of Toms River, who was driving the Pathfinder, was transported to CentraState Medical Center with what the prosecutor described as moderate injuries. Shakov was treated and released.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Detective Kristian DeVito of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443. An investigation is being conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Freehold Township Police Department and the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team.
