Drunk driver kills NJ grandma in wrong way crash, prosecutors say

🔴 Nurse from Whiting killed in crash on Route 70

🔴 Her children have set up a GoFundMe

🔴 Second crash on Route 70 nearly kills man

BRICK — A Monmouth County man is charged with drunk driving in a crash that killed a 58-year-old woman early Friday morning, according to authorities.

Romero Quinteros, 53, of Howell was issued summonses for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said. He is hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Authorities said Quinteros was driving a Toyota Rav 4 that went east in the westbound lanes of Route 70 in Brick Township around 5 a.m. on Dec. 27. A barrier separates the two sides of the state highway.

As it was heading the wrong way, the Toyota SUV hit a Volkswagon Beetle in a head-on crash near Lowe's.

The driver of the beetle was partially ejected from her car, prosecutors said. She was dead at the scene.

An investigation is ongoing.

Victim in Route 70 crash identified

Authorities identified the woman killed in the crash as Anne Rasmussen, 58, of Whiting.

She was an emergency room nurse and was driving home from work at the time of the crash, her daughter Kelly Kracsun said in a GoFundMe.

" She would take the shirt off her back for absolutely anyone and would do anything for the people she loved. This is such a tragedy and our family will never be the same," Kracsun said.

Rasmussen had a husband, three children, and three grandchildren.

The fundraiser for her funeral costs raised over $34,000 by midday Sunday.

Second crash on Route 70

The next morning, Brick police responded to another crash on Route 70 involving four vehicles.

It happened Saturday around 8:30 a.m. at the intersection with Duquesne Boulevard near Target. The intersection is just half a mile away from the crash on Friday.

SEE ALSO: Fury in NJ as state forces affordable housing construction

A photo provided by a follower of the Tri-County Scanner News page on Facebook showed a sedan pushed between a Ford F-150 pickup and a minivan.

According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the white Hyundai Sonata sedan was stopped at a red light behind the red pickup when the sedan was hit from behind by the minivan. Another vehicle was also damaged in the crash.

The driver of the white sedan was hospitalized in critical condition as of Sunday, prosecutors said. The driver of the minivan was treated and released.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom