Charges laid in crash that left TV star in hospital
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.— Film and TV star Tracy Morgan was in critical condition Saturday after his vehicle was involved in a five-car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike that left one man dead, four others seriously injured and another facing charges, police said.
A truck driver from Georgia has been charged with death by auto in connection with the crash.
Middlesex County prosecutors say 35-year-old Kevin Roper of Jonesboro also faces four counts of assault by auto stemming from the crash, which occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday. His bail was set at $50,000.
Roper’s tractor-trailer allegedly rammed into a chauffeured limousine bus that Morgan was riding in.
Morgan, 45, and Jeffrey Millea were both airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., after their limousine was struck from behind, causing a chain-reaction crash that involved five separate vehicles, Trooper Greg Williams, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police, told the Los Angeles Times.
The tractor-trailer “failed to observe” slow moving traffic as it came up behind Morgan’s limousine and other cars travelling north on the highway near Cranbury, N.J., Williams said.
The trailer tried to swerve to avoid the limo, but struck the vehicle from behind, causing it to spin out of control and flip over, he said.
Morgan’s vehicle then collided with a Buick Enclave and a second tractor-trailer before coming to rest.