A routine drive turned tragic in Jackson when what looked like debris was actually a man in the road

🚨 A man suffered a fatal head injury after a dump truck traveled over him

🚨Investigators said the driver swerved to avoid what appeared to be debris

🚨The death was Jackson's fourth fatal crash of 2026 and Ocean County's 18th

JACKSON — A nighttime driver's worst nightmare played out on a dark Ocean County road early Monday morning.

A dump truck driver heading north on South Hope Chapel Road tried to avoid what he thought was debris in the roadway around 2:30 a.m., according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.

The driver, however, realized at the last minute that it was a man. The driver tried to avoid hitting the person but wound up traveling over him and dragging him a short distance. The driver remained at the scene of the crash.

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Jackson's fourth fatal crash of 2026

First responders determined the man had suffered a serious head injury and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators said the truck did not directly hit the man, but other details were not released.

The identities of the trucker and the man in the road were not released on Tuesday.

It was the fourth fatal crash in Jackson in 2026 and the 18th in Ocean County.

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