Teen in Morris Township crash was doing 90-100 mph, witness tells police

morris township police car logo file photo
1

 

The car driven by a teen who was seriously injured in Morris Township earlier this month was traveling so fast it sent a utility pole nearly the length of a football field; the vehicle then slammed head-on into a tree with such force the engine block separated and sent a mailbox flying onto South Street.

A Township resident told police he had seen a northbound vehicle heading past his South Street home at a “very high rate of speed”–90 to 100 mph, he estimated, in a 35 mph zone–on March 11, 2023.

The 17-year-old Morristown driver, freed from the crumpled 2018 Mazda 3 after “extensive extrication” efforts, sustained a traumatic brain injury with a fractured skull, bruised lungs, and a severe lower left leg injury in the crash, which occurred on South Street near Southgate Parkway around 10:19 pm on a Saturday.

These details are from a Morris Township police report obtained Thursday by Morristown Green, in response to an Open Public Records Act request filed shortly after the single-vehicle crash. There were no passengers and nobody else was injured.

Attempts to ascertain the driver’s present condition were unsuccessful. Morristown Green is withholding his identity because he is a minor.

Less than six weeks earlier, another motorist died in a fiery one-vehicle crash in the same vicinity, on Southgate Parkway near South Street in the Township.

ROLLING DOWN THE STREET

Police investigating the March 11 incident interviewed a second South Street resident, who  recounted hearing what sounded like a vehicle rolling over. He looked out his window and saw a utility pole rolling down the street.

A six-foot portion of the pole traveled northward 290 feet before coming to rest in South Street’s southbound lane, according to Morris Township Patrolman Caleb Hough.

This is his account of what unfolded:

Rotating out of control, the Mazda left South Street and struck its passenger side against a mailbox. Hopping a railroad tie curb near a driveway, the car hit a second mailbox that cracked the back bumper of a parked 2022 BMW X5M.

After snapping and launching the utility pole, the Mazda struck a third mailbox, sending it 267 feet to the north, into the southbound lane. Then the Mazda careened into a parked Ford Escape, spinning it 270 degrees onto a lawn.

Finally, the Mazda hit a 35 mph sign and slammed a tree, separating the engine block and propelling another mailbox more than 43 feet into the roadway.

No charges have been filed, according to the report.

The Morris County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation. Morristown firefighters were called to the scene to extricate the driver.

If you’ve read this far… you clearly value your local news. Now we need your help to keep producing the local coverage you depend on! More people are reading Morristown Green than ever. But costs keep rising. Reporting the news takes time, money and hard work. We do it because we, like you, believe an informed citizenry is vital to a healthy community.

So please, CONTRIBUTE to MG or become a monthly SUBSCRIBER. ADVERTISE on Morristown Green. LIKE us on Facebook, FOLLOW us on Twitter, and SIGN UP for our newsletter.

1 COMMENT

  1. I used to live on James and maccoulogh. Cars smashed into my former home. There’s a guy who has a monster pickup with no license plates other than DM Me. And he races down James St. Every night. Lights glaring. Horn blaring. Racing. Really fast. Why can’t the Morristown PD do something??? Anything . This guy is a danger.

LEAVE A REPLY