NJSP

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

Charges have been filed against the 41-year-old wrong-way driver who police say caused the crash that killed four young boys on the NJ Turnpike over the weekend, court records show.

Christopher Neff, of Westminster, CO, has been charged with DUI, reckless driving, wrong-way driving, aggravated manslaughter, and unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit, in connection with the crash in Carneys Point Sunday, Oct. 19, the NJ Courts site shows. 

Neff has collected multiple pages of traffic offenses in New Jersey over the years, most recently as Aug. 19, when he was slapped with failure to observe traffic control device in Paulsboro, and on March 12, when he was charged with reckless and careless driving in Brick Township.

Neff was driving a Dodge pickup truck northbound in the southbound lanes of the Turnpike when it collided head-on with a Mazda SUV traveling south near milepost 1.3 in Carneys Point around 12:40 a.m., New Jersey State Police Sgt. Charles Marchan said.

The Mazda, driven by Yaakov Kilberg, 19, of Lakewood, was carrying three passengers: Aharon Lebovits, 18, and Shlomo Cohen, 18, both of Lakewood, and Chaim Grossman, 18, of Fallsburg, New York, state police said.

After the head-on crash, the Mazda was struck by a Freightliner tractor-trailer driven by Harpret Singh Sandhu, 29, of Nova Scotia, according to police.

All four occupants of the Mazda — Kilberg, Lebovits, Cohen, and Grossman — were pronounced dead at the scene, Marchan said.

Neff suffered serious injuries, while Sandhu was not hurt, police said.

The crash remains under investigation, and no additional details are available at this time, Marchan said.