4 Teens Killed In Fiery Turnpike Crash By Wrong-Way Driver Were Headed For Vacation, Reports Say

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A wrong-way driver in a fiery crash that killed four teens with ties to Lakewood on the New Jersey Turnpike may have been driving drunk, according to a report.

Yaakov Kilberg, 19, of Lakewood, and his three 18-year-old passengers, Aharon Lebovits and Shlomo Cohen, both from Lakewood, and Chaim Grossman of Fallsburg, New York, were killed in the crash that happened about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, New Jersey State Police said.

Grossman's grandparents live in Lakewood, Lakewood Alerts reported. Lebovits had been a well-liked counselor at a local camp, that report said.

The four were yeshiva students who were headed to Tennessee for a vacation between semesters at their yeshiva, The Lakewood Scoop reported.

Kilberg was driving a black Mazda CX-5 south on the Turnpike when it was hit by a white 2021 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Christopher Neff, 41, of Westminster, Colorado, about 12:45 a.m. near milepost 1.3 in Carneys Point, state police said.

Neff was driving north in the southbound lanes and hit the Mazda head on, state police said. The Mazda and the Dodge were then hit by a tractor-trailer driven by Harpret Singh Sandhu, 29, of Nova Scotia, Canada, state police said. Sandhu had been behind the Mazda and he was not injured, state police said.

Neff was seriously injured and was taken to Christiana Hospital in Delaware, authorities said. The Lakewood Scoop reported Neff may have been drunk, citing official sources.

New Jersey State Police have not confirmed the allegation of drunk driving. In an update on Monday they were asking anyone who witnessed the crash or saw the pickup truck traveling in the wrong direction to call the Moorestown barracks at 609-860-9000, ext. 3226.

The impact caused the Mazda to burst into flames, the Carneys Point Fire and Rescue Squad said in a Facebook post.

"Crews from our station and Auburn Fire Company worked swiftly to extricate a heavily entrapped driver, who was then transferred to EMS for transport to Christiana Hospital," the post said. "A simultaneous winching operation and extrication on the second vehicle determined, unfortunately, that four occupants had succumbed to their injuries."

"Personnel remained on scene to perform a lengthy and respectful extrication of those victims once the investigation was completed by NJSP," the squad said.

Funeral services for all four teens were held Sunday in keeping with Jewish tradition, according to the Lakewood Scoop and Lakewood Alerts.