Four young men — two brothers, a US Marine and an aspiring cop — were killed early Wednesday when their car slammed into a tanker truck on the Garden State Parkway, according to police and reports.
The horrific crash occurred around 2:50 a.m. in the southbound lanes near Exit 81 in Toms River, according to New Jersey State Police.
Kevin Quispe-Prieto, 21, of Beachwood, NJ, was at the wheel of the white Infiniti G37 that barreled into the rear of the moving oil tanker in the right lane, cops said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene along with his three passengers, identified as his brother Jimmy Quispe-Prieto, 23, Victor Lugo, 24, and Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Ordenana, 23, all of Lakewood, NJ.
The truck driver, Louis Figueroa, 45, also of Lakewood, suffered minor injuries, state police Sgt. Lawrence Peele told The Post.
Kevin Quispe-Prieto graduated last year from Ocean County College with a computer science degree, a surviving brother told WNBC.
Ordenana was a rifleman with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa, according to the Defense Department.
Lugo, a Department of Public Works employee, wanted to become a police officer like his stepfather, Patrolman Alex Guzman, Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles told the Asbury Park Press.
“I can’t even think of the words to describe how it feels,” Coles said. “Something like this is just so totally unexpected. I don’t know what I can say to his parents. They’re great people.”
Oscar Orellana, a guidance counselor at Lakewood High, told the paper that the young man recently stopped by the school with several other aspiring police recruits to collect their transcripts.
“I was excited to see him becoming a police officer because I thought he was a good fit for the community. To hear that he lost his life is just tragic,” Orellana said, adding that Lugo also was a camp counselor.
The truck belongs to Taylor Oil Co., which is headquartered in Somerville, NJ, a person who answered the phone at the company confirmed to The Post. He declined to comment about the accident and referred questions to state police.
The crash occurred in an acceleration lane where vehicles merge onto the parkway southbound from Lakehurst Road, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Law enforcement sources told WNBC that the stretch of parkway is notorious for speed-related crashes.
Peele said police have not determined how fast the Infiniti was going before it slammed into the truck. There also was no word about whether alcohol was involved, he said.
The crash is the deadliest car accident in New Jersey this year, according to police statistics.
On May 17, a teacher and a student were killed and dozens injured when a bus packed with Paramus fifth-graders was broadsided by a dump truck on Route 80.
The bus driver, Hudy Muldrow, was charged with vehicular homicide. The 77-year-old has denied that he was trying to make an illegal U-turn.
Earlier this month, Michael Sot, a 20-year-old student at The College of New Jersey, was killed and several others injured in a head-on crash that reportedly involved a 22-year-old impaired driver.
David Lamer was charged with vehicular homicide and seven counts of second-degree assault by auto.
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