Police car involved in fatal pedestrian crash on Turnpike

SECAUCUS (AP) — A police car struck and killed two pedestrians on the northbound side of the New Jersey Turnpike near the Vince Lombardi Service Area.

The accident happened early Wednesday in the northbound lanes of the eastern spur in Secaucus, approaching the service area  at milepost 115 around 1 a.m.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority says the victims,  Jason Champion, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nuwnah Laroche, 34, of East Elmhurst, N.Y., had walked away from their disabled 2001 Cadillac Escalade on the southbnound side. They were pronounced dead around 4:33 a.m.

State police say the police vehicle was driven by officer Arsenio Pecora, 46, with the Washington Township Police Department in Bergen County as he returned from training at Fort Dix in South Jersey.  The officer was treated for minor injuries

An investigation into the incident continues.