Man Killed, Woman Injured In Multiple-Vehicle Crash On Turnpike In Cranbury

CRANBURY, NJ - A man was killed and a woman seriously injured following a series of four consecutive rear-end collisions on the NJ Turnpike in Cranbury on Saturday.

The crashes occurred around 4:45 a.m. in the southbound inner lanes near milepost 70.1 in Cranbury, between exits 8A and 8, New Jersey State Police said.

According to preliminary investigation, a Ford F-250 pickup truck was traveling south on the inner roadway. Amide Prophete, a 45-year-old woman from Irvington, NJ, was driving a Ford E-350 south on the inner roadway. In the area of milepost 70.1, the Prophete’s vehicle struck the rear of the pickup truck.

After the crash, the pickup truck came to stop on the right shoulder, and Prophete’s vehicle remained in the lanes of travel.

Shortly thereafter, Ruis Parral Antonio, a 38-year-old man from Irvington, NJ, was driving a Mercedes SUV south on the inner roadway when it struck the rear of the E-350 and remained on the road. Prophete and Antonio exited their vehicles and stood in the travel lanes, NJSP said.

In the third and most deadly collision, Lusvin Carias Ortiz, 33, from Bridgeport, CT, was driving a Ford SUV on the inner roadway and struck the rear of the unoccupied E-350, hitting both Prophete, Antonio and the Mercedes SUV, NJSP said.

The final collision occurred when a Toyota SUV hit the now-unoccupied Mercedes.

As a result of the crash, Antonio sustained fatal injuries and Prophete sustained serious injuries, police said.

The crash remains under investigation by NJSP.

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