Crime & Safety

Lakewood Woman Dies After Accident at Route 70, Massachusetts Ave.

Second driver also injured in head-on collision

A Lakewood woman died before 2 p.m. Wednesday in a head-on collision at Route 70 and Massachusetts Avenue in Toms River.

Marie Smith, 77 of Lakewood was westbound on Route 70 and attempted a left turn onto Massachusetts Avenue southbound when she collided head on into an eastbound minivan, said Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy.

Smith was transported to Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood where she succumbed to her injuries shortly after the accident, said the police chief. The eastbound driver, Jenna Hester, 24 of Toms River, was also transported to Kimball Medical Center.

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Emergency response closed the roadway in both directions as Silverton and Pleasant Plains Fire company along with Toms River and Alert EMS were called to the serious accident.

Police are looking for witnesses to the accident, which occurred at 1:18 p.m. Oct. 24. Anyone with information can call Toms River Police Traffic Safety at 732-349-0150.

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Toms River Traffic Safety Officers Frank Palino and Terry Warren are investigating along with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. 

The intersection was the site of several other crashes, one fatal, in the last year.

a hit-and-run accident killed a 71-year-old Toms River woman and seriously injured her husband, after an eastbound vehicle collided head-on at the intersection while attempting a left turn onto Massachusetts.


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