SOUTH BRUNSWICK – The driver of a dump truck that crashed into a home on New Road last month has been accused of taking drugs and not sleeping enough prior to the accident.
An investigation by South Brunswick Police Traffic Safety Bureau Officer William Beard into the Aug. 14 crash has led to charges against the 55-year-old man from Morrisville, Pennsylvania. He has been charged with being under the influence of cocaine and fentanyl and had not slept for more than 32 hours at the time of the crash, according to the allegations.
The driver is charged with a fourth degree crime of endangering the welfare of another for knowingly engaging in conduct which created a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to the occupants of the home he struck. The 4 a.m. crash destroyed the residence but left the family who was sleeping in back rooms uninjured.
He is also charged with driving while impaired on a commercial driver’s license, DWI within 1000 feet of a school, use of a commercial motor vehicle during the commission of a crime, reckless driving, having defective brakes, failure to keep right, improper driving on a sidewalk, driving an overweight vehicle on a restricted roadway, and several additional equipment violations.
“To be under the influence of drugs while driving an 86-ton dump truck is reckless and endangers everyone. He destroyed a home where a family was sleeping, and but for an act of God this could have been a tragedy,” Police Chief Raymond Hayducka said in a prepared statement.
The driver is free pending his first court appearance scheduled for Oct. 3.
