Roxbury Man Killed in Central Jersey Accident

A Morris County man has been identified as the individual killed in Monday morning’s three-vehicle collision on Interstate 95 in Lawrence Township.

Andrew Kominek, 59, of Landing, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred about 8:30 a.m. along the northbound side of I-95 at milepost 8.2, near Princeton Pike, Sgt. Brian Polite confirmed.

Kominek’s 2009 Subaru Forester was struck from behind by a 2010 International tractor-trailer traveling in the right northbound lane and, in turn, pushed into the rear of a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, Polite said.

Sandwiched between the two vehicles, Kominek’s Subaru sustained significant damage.

Polite identified the Chevrolet’s driver as Karen Osif, 58, of Trenton, and the driver of the tractor-trailer as Wilson Peralta, 29, of New Brunswick.

He said Osif was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton for treatment of injuries to her face and lower legs, while Peralta also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton.

The specific cause of the collision remains under investigation, Polite said.  

Lawrence Township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters, on their way back to their station from an earlier fire call involving an overheated vehicle on the southbound side of I-95, spotted the crash moments after it happened.

Radioing for additional assistance, they quickly arrived on scene and found Kominek trapped in the wreckage, with no vital signs, emergency officials said. Firefighters managed to free Kominek and immediately began to perform CPR.

A township ambulance crew and Capital Health System paramedics then arrived and took off resuscitation efforts, but after a few minutes Kominek was pronounced dead, officials said.

Northbound traffic on I-95 was reduced to one lane for several hours, causing a significant backup. Southbound traffic was also affected, as many motorists slowed to look at the wreckage as they drove past.

Also assisting at the scene were Lawrence Township police and volunteer firefighters from the Lawrenceville, Lawrence Road and Slackwood fire companies.