Egg Harbor Twp., NJ, Teen Killed, Police Officer Hurt in Garden State Parkway Crashes

A teenager from Egg Harbor Township was killed and multiple people, including a police officer, were injured in separate but related accidents on the Garden State Parkway Saturday evening.

First accident

According to a report from NJ.com that cites a statement from state police, 19-year-old Jessica Molina-Colmenares of EHT was a passenger in a Honda Civic that was headed southbound on the Parkway near mile marker 64 in Stafford Township at around 6:30 PM.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the Honda left the road, overturned, and went down an embankment.

Molina-Colmenares was ejected from that car and sustained fatal injuries. The driver had non-life-threatening injuries.

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Second crash

State Police then said a Stafford Township police officer who was on the way to assist troopers with that crash was involved in a second accident in the area.

That accident happened around 7:20 when the unidentified officer in a marked patrol car was attempting to turn into an "authorized vehicle only" turnaround on the northbound side of the Parkway when he was struck by Jeep Grand Cherokee.

As a result of the crash, a rear seat passenger in the Jeep sustained serious injuries, three additional passengers sustained minor non-life-threatening injuries and one passenger did not report any injuries.

The officer suffered minor injuries. The status of the driver of the Grand Cherokee was not known.

Between both accidents, southbound traffic on the Parkway was impacted for about an hour while the second crash on the opposite side caused delays for about six hours.

Both accidents remain under investigation.