Crime & Safety

[UPDATE] New City Man, 20, Charged In Fatal 'Road Rage' Crash

Police say woman was killed on Garden State Parkway.

UPDATE (3 p.m.): A 63-year-old Teaneck, NJ, woman was the victim of a fatal two-vehicle crash on the Garden State Parkway Sunday and two drivers have been charged in her death, New Jersey state police said. 

Annetta Billingy was the rear passenger in a silver Honda Pilot driven by 20-year-old John Emili of New City, Trooper Christopher Kay, a state police spokesman, said Monday. The relationship between Billingy and Emili was not clear. 

Kay said the crash happened during a "road rage incident" between the two drivers that started near Route 17 and continued to its end between exits 167 and 168 on the Garden State Parkway northbound in Washington Township. 

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Thomas J. Vanderweit, 27, of Saddle Brook and Emili were driving erratically, making numerous lane changes and speeding, Kay said Sunday. Near exit 167, Emili attempted to pass Vangerweit on the right in the exit lane when he lost control of his Honda Pilot, Kay said. 

His car bounced off the guard rail, sending it into a collision with Vanderweit's Chevy Trailblazer, Kay said. Billingy, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle.

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State police received a call at 10:48 a.m. reporting the crash in the highway's northbound lanes, Kay said. A Hackensack University Medical Center helicopter landed on the Parkway and airlifted Billingy to the hospital where she was pronounced dead at 12:01 p.m. 

Vanderweit and Emili were both charged with vehicular homicide and numerous motor vehicle violations, Kay said. They were each held in Bergen County Jail on $100,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

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UPDATE (2 p.m.): The woman killed in Sunday's crash has been identified as Annetta Billingy, 63, of Teaneck, NJ, according to New Jersey State Trooper Christopher Kay. 

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One person is dead after being airlifted from a two-vehicle crash on the Garden State Parkway in Washington Township, NJ, Sunday, state police said. The two drivers, one from New City and one from New Jersey, were charged with vehicular homicide.

The individual who died was ejected from one of the vehicles involved, according to New Jersey State Police spokesman Christopher Kay. Kay said the crash happened during a "road rage incident" between the two drivers that started near Route 17 and continued north to its end between exits 167 and 168 on the Parkway.

Thomas Vangerweit, 27, of Saddlebrook, NJ, and John Emili, 20, of New City, were driving erratically, making numerous lane changes and speeding, according to Kay. Near exit 167, Emili allegedly attempted to pass Vangerweit on the right in the exit lane when he lost control of his Honda Pilot. His car bounced off the guard rail, sending it into a collision with Vangerweit's Chevy Trailblazer, Kay said. Emili's passenger, who was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the car.

State police received a call at 10:48 a.m. reporting the crash in the highway's northbound lanes, Kay said. A Hackensack University Medical Center helicopter landed on the Parkway and brought the passenger to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 12:01 p.m. 

Vangerweit and Emili were both charged with vehicular homicide and numerous motor vehicle violations, Kay said. They were each held in Bergen County Jail on $100,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

Emergency responders from Westwood and Washington Township were at the scene. 


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