Woman charged in fatal pedestrian crash

EAST WINDSOR >> A Plainsboro woman accused of striking and killing a pedestrian in a deadly hitand-run crash has been arrested and charged with criminal offenses.

Adeola Olapade, 53, has been lodged at the Mercer County Correction Center on allegations she knowingly left the scene of a serious motor vehicle accident resulting in death last week, East Windsor Police announced Wednesday in a press release.

Police say Olapade carelessly operated a 2010 Honda CR-V when she fatally struck 34-year-old Daniel Castro about 8:35 p.m. Dec. 13 in the area of North Main Street near the East Windsor-Cranbury Township border.

When cops arrived on scene, they found Castro’s body in the roadway and determined he was apparently the victim of a fatal hit-and-run crash as the suspect’s vehicle was no longer in the area. Medics pronounced the pedestrian dead at the scene, police said.

East Windsor Police and the Serious Collision Response Team of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office jointly investigated the incident and located crash debris from the suspected SUV, ultimately identifying Olapade as the driver, authorities said in the release.

Knowingly leaving the scene of a deadly motor vehicle crash is a second-degree crime in New Jersey. If evidence so warrants, prosecutors may present the case to a grand jury, and a grand jury may return an indictment charging Olapade with manslaughter or vehicular homicide.

The defendant is currently facing charges of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in death, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report a motor vehicle crash and careless driving, according to East Windsor Police.

Castro was a resident of East Windsor.