NJSP car destroyed in Turnpike crash, trooper ‘moderately hurt’

UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: The State Police trooper and the other two drivers involved all were hospitalized with moderate injuries, State Police said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

CRANBURY — A crash involving an overturned dump truck, a State Police vehicle and a Porsche Boxster around 7 a.m. Monday closed the southbound car lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike.

According to State Police, a trooper was in the driver seat of a State Police Chevy Tahoe, stopped behind the Boxster on the right shoulder of the inner roadway southbound in the township when
a Ford dump truck traveling southbound on the outer roadway struck a metal guardrail and veered onto the inner roadway, striking both other vehicles.

The trooper, driver of the dump truck and driver of the Porsche all suffered moderate injuries and were transported to an area hospital.

State Police have not yet released information about the identities of anyone involved.

A picture via helicopter by ABC 7 Eyewitness News shows the damage in the southbound inner lanes south of exit 8A for Jamesburg near the Molly Pitcher service area.

A picture from the scene by photojournalist Dennis Symons shows the trooper's vehicle shredded in the wreckage of the crash.

The dump truck also spilled its load of dirt onto the roadway, according to a photo by WCBS 880 helicopter pilot Tom Kaminski.

The inner roadway was closed for approximately six hours, while the crash caused a multi-mile rubbernecking delay in the outer lanes as well.