WEST WINDSOR – The driver of a Chevrolet Cruz sedan that broadsided a Volkswagen Passat on Route 1 south, killing a passenger in the Volkswagen, has been charged with one count of death by automobile and three counts of assault by automobile, according to the West Windsor Police Department.
Police said Ddjena Elysee, of Newark, was arrested in Newark by West Windsor Police Department officers on Oct. 28. Police lodged the charges against Elysee following a months-long investigation into the crash that occurred at 3:30 a.m. June 26.
Elysee was taken to the Mercer County Correction Center pending a future court date in state Superior Court.
The crash killed a 23-year-old Hamilton Township man when the Volkswagen in which he was riding was struck broadside by Elysee’s car, police said. The crash occurred on Route 1 south near Carnegie Center Boulevard.
The Volkswagen had been involved in a crash moments earlier, police said. The driver lost control of the car, which left the road and struck a utility pole, a street sign and a second utility pole before coming to rest in the center lane of Route 1 south with its passenger side facing oncoming traffic, police said.
That is when the Chevrolet, driven by Elysee, which was traveling south on Route 1 in the center lane, struck the front passenger side of the Volkswagen.
The Hamilton Township resident was trapped in the front passenger seat and had to be cut out of the car. He was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, Trenton, in critical condition and later died of his injuries, police said.
The 24-year-old driver of the Volkswagen and two rear seat passengers, ages 24 and 26, sustained what police described as serious injuries. They were transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center. The driver lives in Hamilton Township and the rear seat passengers live in Trenton.
Elysee, who was driving the Chevrolet, was taken to Penn Medicine Medical Center, Plainsboro, for treatment of what police described as minor injuries, police said.
