Garbage truck driver slams into SUV, killing 1, while checking phone, NJ officials say

A man driving a garbage truck slammed into an SUV from behind as it sat at a red light, causing flames to ignite and killing the driver, New Jersey officials said.

He was checking his cell phone when he collided with the stopped SUV at 5:18 a.m. on May 8 at an intersection in Pequannock Township, surveillance video shows, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Now the garbage truck driver, 45, of Newark, is facing a second-degree reckless vehicular homicide charge, officials announced in a May 8 news release.

The sudden collision instantly caused the man’s Chevy Traverse to catch fire, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The garbage truck driver and a nearby bystander pulled the unconscious man out of the fiery car before patrol officers and first responders tried saving him, the release said.

However, their efforts were unsuccessful as the man was pronounced dead at the intersection, according to officials.

The man who died wasn’t identified by the prosecutor’s office. A post-mortem exam is underway, officials said.

The man driving the garbage truck is in Morris County Correctional Facility and is due in court, according to the release.

Pequannock Township is about 25 miles northwest of New York City.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.