Drunk Driver In Turnpike Crash That Killed 4 Yeshiva Students Had Guns Illegally, Authorities Say

CARNEYS POINT, NJ — A man accused of driving drunk on the wrong side of the highway and causing a crash that killed four yeshiva students had multiple illegal weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck, according to court records Patch obtained.

Christopher Neff, 41, of Westminster, Colorado, drove on the wrong side of the New Jersey Turnpike early Sunday and struck a black Mazda CX-5 head-on in Salem County, authorities said.

The four students — 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 in the Mazda and died in the crash that happened about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, New Jersey State Police said. Grossman's grandparents live in Lakewood.

Neff, who was seriously injured in the crash, was charged Tuesday with four counts of first-degree manslaughter and four counts of second-degree vehicular homicide. Court documents show he had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.22 percent after the crash, nearly three times the legal limit.

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

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; he was not injured, state police said.

Court documents obtained by Patch show that Neff is facing additional charges related to weapons and drugs that police say were found in his vehicle after the crash.

Neff had two rifles, a handgun and a BB gun with him, according to State Police, who described the rifles as assault rifles. He was not authorized to carry any of them.

He also had psilocybin mushrooms, several high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition — including hollow-point bullets and full metal jackets — according to an affidavit.

Neff remained in custody at a Delaware hospital as of Wednesday for treatment of his crash injuries.

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