Sparta Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal DWI Crash: Prosecutor

SUSSEX, NJ - A Sparta man pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving while intoxicated in connection with a fatal January crash that killed local EMT and mother Erin Moore, authorities said.

Attila Princz, 42, additionally pleaded guilty to death by auto before Judge Michael C. Gaus at the Sussex County Courthouse last week, Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said in a statement.

Princz was sentenced on the DWI charge Wednesday to four months loss of license, nine months of interlock following the suspension, twelve hours of Intoxicated Driver Resource Center training and $690.00 in fines and fees. Further sentencing is scheduled for March 24, Taggart said.

Princz and Moore collided when Princz’s car drifted over from northbound Route 181 into the southbound lane by Signal Hill Trail, police previously told Patch. Princz reportedly drank five sangrias at the Lake Hopatcong restaurant Chapala Grill before speeding 30 mph over the speed limit and losing control of his BMW around a Route 181 curve, the New Jersey Herald initially reported.

The Sparta Fire Department extracted Moore from her car, and she was rushed to Newton Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Princz was airlifted to Morristown Medical Center after the accident with head and back injuries.

A separate lawsuit in Sussex County Superior Court filed by Moore’s husband Eddie names Princz, Chapala Grill, the grill’s owners and BMW of North America, where Princz was employed as a claims manager.

In the suit, Moore claims Princz was on the job and driving a company car at the time of the crash. The company denied Princz was on-duty during the incident, per court records.

Moore, an emergency room nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, was working towards a master’s degree in nursing - with the ultimate goal of becoming a midwife - before the fatal crash, per her obituary.

“While Erin’s work was her passion, her heart was happiest spending her summer days with Eddie, Rylee and Mackenzie on Beach 4 at Lake Mohawk, celebrating the girls birthdays at Great Wolf Lodge, visiting favorite places and friends in Sparta and cuddling her animals,” her obituary reads.

“Her greatest joy was being a mother and was the loudest cheerleader at the girls swim meets and coached flag football often volunteering Eddie too. Erin’s family was the center of her world.”