when will people learn???

Retired NYC officer among dead in Rt. 80 crash
Vehicle in which he was a passenger was struck from behind

DAILY RECORD STAFF REPORTS


A retired New York City police officer was among three killed Friday after a motor vehicle accident on Route 80.

Theodore R. Williams, 61, was a passenger in a Jeep Cherokee that was struck from behind by a Honda CRV at 10 p.m. Friday on the highway.

Authorities said that Damian Daleo, of Landing, was traveling west behind the Jeep when the Jeep began to brake. Daleo, 24, failed to brake and hit the Jeep, according to authorities.

Williams and another passenger in the Jeep, 49-year-old Julia Bowen of New York City, also died.

The impact caused the Jeep to move to the left, off of the road, onto the median and then up an embankment over the guardrail that separates eastbound and westbound lanes of the road.

It landed in an eastbound lane, where it was struck by an eastbound Chrysler PT Cruiser, authorities reported.

The driver of the PT Cruiser, Donald Dinnen Jr., 49, of Bushkill, Pa., also was killed, authorities said.

A fourth vehicle, a Chevrolet Cavalier that was traveling east, also collided with the other two vehicles.

Its occupants, Sobah Narla, 54, and Gangadh Narla, 52, both of Buffalo, suffered head and neck injuries and were taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Sobah Narla remained there Sunday in stable condition. No further information was available on Gangadh Narla's condition.

As a result of the collision with the Jeep, Daleo's Honda spun off to the right shoulder of the highway and came to a stop facing east on the westbound shoulder, authorities reported. He was not injured.

Daleo is being held in the county jail on $200,000 bail. He is charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated, and related motor vehicle charges authorities said.