Toms River, NJ woman charged with killing two while driving high on marijuana

TOMS RIVER — A woman accused of driving while high earlier this year is now charged with the deaths of two men in a four-car accident.

Danielle Bowker, 30, of Toms River, did not stay in her lane while taking a right-hand curve, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said. Officials say her Honda Civic struck a state Department of Transportation Ford F-550 pickup truck, causing a cascading crash.

The accident around 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29 resulted in the deaths of Michael Sadis, 48, and Paul Lamberti, 58, both of Toms River. They were in separate vehicles.

Two men in the pickup were also injured.

Bowker was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries. Prosecutors say that while she was there, investigators conducted a blood draw on Bowker.

The results showed Bowker had THC in her system and that she had recently used marijuana at the time of the crash, according to Billhimer.

"Upon reviewing the laboratory results of Bowker’s blood draw," Billhimer said, "the State’s psychopharmacologist rendered an opinion that at the time of the crash, Bowker’s faculties were impaired due to the effects of marijuana intoxication, and that she could not safely operate a motor vehicle."

Bowker surrendered herself to the Manchester police with an attorney present on Tuesday.

Bowker is charged with two counts each of vehicular homicide, Strict Liability Vehicular Homicide, Assault by Auto, and one count of Driving While Intoxicated. She is awaiting a detention hearing at Ocean County Jail.

Rick Rickman is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com

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