Crime & Safety

Ocean County Teen Dies In Early Morning Car Accident

Police: car went through stop sign, hit tree

A 19-year-old man died early Saturday morning in a single-vehicle car crash in which one other person was seriously injured.

Francis Duddy, of Toms River was a passenger in the 2006 Honda Civic being driven by Conner Hanfin, 18, of Toms River according to township police spokesman Ralph Stocco. Duddy was pronounced dead at the scene of the 1:36 a.m. accident; Hanfin was extricated by emergency rescue crews and was flown by medevac helicopter to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, where he is listed in critical condition.

The vehicle, Stocco said, went through a stop sign and crossed over Vaughn Avenue in Toms River. It continued a short distance on Yellowbank Road until it went over the curb at the end of the cul-de-sac, then entered a wooded area and struck a tree.

Toms River Police Department Traffic Safety Officer David Bartoshek is conducting the investigation and is being assisted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Support Team and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CIU Evidence Unit, Stocco said.

Rescue efforts were conducted by Toms River Police EMS, MONOC paramedics, East Diver Fire Department, Silverton Fire Department, and Toms River Fire Company #2. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. 

No charges have been filed as of yet.


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