Warren County Airborne Pickup Truck Driver May Face Charges: Prosecutor

WARREN COUNTY, NJ — Officials expect to completely reconstruct a Washington Township accident scene, to discover how a pickup truck flew into the second story of a home, according to Warren County’s prosecutor.

Prosecutor James Pfeiffer told Patch in a phone interview on Monday that officials cannot currently estimate how quickly driver John Nunn was traveling on Route 57 Sunday morning, when his truck lost control and hit the home. The accident killed his passenger Tyler Balog, and injured the two homeowners, who Pfeiffer declined to name.

Nunn could potentially face aggravated manslaughter, death by auto and DWI charges based on preliminary information about the accident, said Pfeiffer, which he said appears to be “alcohol-involved.”

Balog, 24, of Washington was pronounced dead at the scene, Pfeiffer said. One of the homeowners was rushed to Morristown Medical Center in critical condition and the other was taken to Hackettstown Medical Center. Nunn, 27, also of Washington, sustained minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, with his condition currently unknown, Pfeiffer said.

Washington Township Police Department, which directed all questions to the Prosecutor’s Office, is assisting with the investigation and “full accident reconstruction,” said Pfeiffer. New Jersey State Police is analyzing Nunn’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), he added. Investigators will also need to check Nunn’s truck for the possibility of mechanical defects, he said.

The accident is not weather-related, Pfeiffer stated.

Nunn was traveling in his Dodge Ram pickup truck from Washington Borough in the direction of Hackettstown on Sunday at about 2:15 a.m., when he attempted to pass two cars at unknown “high rates of speed,” said Pfeiffer. He lost control of his truck and landed in the front yard of a Route 57 home with a circular landscaped area. That structure “acted like a ramp into the second floor,” Pfeiffer said.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.