FIRERY HAMMONTON ACCIDENT CLAIMS LIFE
From NBC 40.com
HAMMONTON -- A horrific accident claims a life in Hammonton Monday night.
It happened around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of South Egg Harbor Road and 11th Street, where a yellow mustang and silver Nissan SUV collided, sending the SUV off the road and into a resident's yard.
The mustang then caught fire with the driver still inside.
Neighbors who heard the crash rushed to help the trapped victim.
One man tried to kick in the car window, and someone even tried to bring a hose to fight the fire.
"It started on fire. Somebody tried to pull the hose but it was too short. It can't get the water over there. Another guy tried to help. In the next couple minutes the car start... the fire big," said Gustabo Lopez, a witness to the accident.
NBC 40 has learned that the driver of the mustang may have been a corrections officer with the Atlantic County jail, although that has not been confirmed.
The accident closed at least four blocks of Egg Harbor Road for several hours while the scene was investigated.
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Man Charged In Connection With Fatal Fiery Car Crash
From: NBC10.com
POSTED: 11:46 am EST January 15, 2008 UPDATED: 4:22 pm EST January 15, 2008
A man died in a fiery collision as neighbors watched helplessly in a South Jersey town on Monday night and a South Jersey man was charged in the fatal two-car crash that killed a corrections officer.
Police said a Ford Mustang and Nissan Pathfinder collided around 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of South Egg Harbor Road and 11th Street in Hammonton. The collision sent the SUV into a person's yard and caused the Mustang to catch on fire.
Sgt. John Cruz, a 27-year veteran of the Atlantic County Department of Public Safety, was killed the crash.
Anthony Ruggerio, 30, was in court Tuesday in Mays Landing. He's charged with vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and other offenses, police said.
Police said Ruggerio's SUV rear-ended Cruz's car.
Cruz, 51, was trapped inside that burning car and tried kicking out the windows as neighbors rushed to get a hose to fight the fire.
The Hammonton father of three served as the supervisor of the Home Detention and Day Reporting Program at the Atlantic County Justice Facility in Mays Landing.
"Somebody tried to pull the hose, but it was too short," witness Gustabo Lopez said. "It can't get the water over there."
The incident closed at least four blocks of Egg Harbor Road for several hours while police investigated.
Cruz was an outstanding officer and served in numerous positions within the facility and its areas of responsibility, according to Warden Gary Merline.
Cruz was well known for his expertise in home detention, specifically the use of GPS monitoring.
