3 die after crashes send vehicles into icy bodies of water
BURLINGTON » Prosecutors charged a Burlington City man following a crash that sent a vehicle plunging into the icy Delaware River – one of two crashes over the weekend which claimed the lives of three people.
Jacob T. Garrett, 24, of Stacy Court, was driving on a suspended license and traveling at a high rate of speed when he struck a parked minivan, prior to vaulting over the river wall and into the water near Wood Street, shortly before 1 p.m., authorities said. Garrett escaped from the car by the time some good Samaritans arrived to try to help pull the man’s girlfriend from the frigid waters.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement late Monday announcing the charges that Garrett told witnesses who rushed over, “Help my girlfriend,” before he fled from the scene.
City resident Joe Entwistle, who witnessed the crash, told the Burlington County Times that he and several other bystanders tried to help and got a man later identified as Garrett who was on the back of the overturned and submerged vehicle out of the river.
“Three or four of us pulled him out,” Entwistle said. “He was soaking wet and panicking, saying his girlfriend was in there. Then he took off. I guess he was in shock.”
Prosecutors identified the deceased woman as Stephanie White, 23, also of Burlington City.
An investigation into the cause of the crash showed Garrett was traveling along Riverbank Road when he collided with a parked minivan. The careening car catapulted into the air and ended up in the river, the impact of which caused the front end to break through the ice, investigators said.
White still had her seat belt on when first responders arrived and extricated her submerged body, authorities said. She was taken to Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County in Willingboro, where she was pronounced dead.
A K-9 Officer helped track and apprehend Garrett, who was at the Burlington Towne Center North light rail platform on West Broad Street. Police stopped the train at the Beverly/ Edgewater Park station, located Garrett and took him into custody, prosecutors said.
He faces charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, causing death while driving with a suspended license and victim endangerment. He was being held at the Burlington County jail and is expected to make a first appearance in court.
It was a deadly weekend for motorists as another high-speed car crash Saturday claimed the lives of a Burlington Township couple.
No charges have been filed in that case as the prosecutor’s office determines whether criminal behavior was responsible for the collision and the subsequent deaths.