Rabbi Killed In Princeton Car Crash

The retired director of the Princeton University's Center for Jewish Life was killed after being hit by a speeding car in Princeton as he was getting into a parked vehicle.

Rabbi James Diamond, 74, of Princeton was getting into a Toyota Camry parked along Riverside Drive in front of the Riverview Elementary School when a BMW driven by Eric Malz, 20, of Princeton at a high rate of speed struck Diamond, throwing him away from the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene according to Princeton Police.

The driver of the car, 63-year-old Robert Freedman of Princeton, was seriously injured along with Malz and are both hospitalized at a trauma center.

The force of impact by Malz's car was so great that a Toyota Prius parked in back of the struck vehicle was pushed several hundred feet across the street into a tree.

The speed limit on Riverview Avenue is 25 MPH; Princeton Police Captain Nick Sutter told the Patch "there are two obvious things" about this incident.  "The BMW was traveling at a high rate of speed and didn't appear to attempt to brake." According to the Times of Trenton no one from the school was involved in the crash.

Princeton Police Seargent Michael R. Cifelli said the Riverview Elementary School is on spring break this week and no one was outside the school.

Services are scheduled for Sunday according the Princeton University Center For Jewish Life's website which remembered Diamond as being "admired by students and faculty  for his kindness, his teaching and his efforts to bring different Jewish denominations together." He was the Center's Executive Director until 2003 and taught part-time at Princeton following his retirement.

Some photos courtesy Brian McCarthy.

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