Victim Identified In Fatal Route 9 Crash

Police have identified the man who was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Freehold that left two other people hospitalized.

Forty-year-old Marlboro resident Daniel Velba was pronounced dead at the scene of Friday night's crash at Route 9 and Schanck Road.

Authorities say Velba was southbound on Route 9 when his car and a vehicle driven by 52-year-old John Johnson Jr. of Middletown collided around 11 p.m. Johnson's vehicle was crossing the highway when the crash occurred, going from Route 79 onto Schanck Road.

Velba's car burst into the flames moments after the crash occurred.

Johnson and a passenger in his car, 52-year-old Colleen Coppa of Middletown, were treated at a hospital for undisclosed injuries.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.