Head-on crash injures two men on Route 535

Monmouth Junction Fire Department personnel work to cut a Milltown man from his vehicle following a head-on collision on Route 535 in South Brunswick on July 30.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A 17-year-old Milltown teenager and a 52-year-old Levittown, Pa., man were injured, following a July 31 afternoon accident.

According to police, Justin Tugya of Milltown was driving north on Route 535 in a 1989 Ford Taurus, when he struck a 1990 Plymouth Voyager, operated by James Rodgers of Levittown, which was headed south.

The force of the collision caused the dashboard of the Voyager to collapse on Rodgers, pinning him in the vehicle, according to police.

The Monmouth Junction Fire Department worked for over 25 minutes, cutting away at the roof and prying off the driver’s door with the Jaws of Life in order to free Rodgers.

Rodgers was transported by Monmouth Junction First Aid and paramedics, while Tugya was transported by Monroe EMS and paramedics. Both were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Patrolman Lazlo Nyitrai of the South Brunswick Police Department Traffic Safety Bureau is investigating the accident.

Nyitrai said initial indications are that Tugya crossed over the double-yellow line and struck Rodgers in the southbound lanes, where the vehicles came to rest. The wet roads may have contributed to the accident.

The 3:50 p.m. accident closed the four-lane section of Route 535 until 5:30 p.m., according to police.

Traffic was detoured through the area. The accident took place on Route 535 between Stults Road and the New Jersey Turnpike overpass.