July 12, 2015
A driver has been arrested and charged for starting a chain reaction collision in New Jersey Saturday that killed a baby and two adults.
New Jersey State Police say that 22-year-old Bhavuk Uppal of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, struck a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee with his 2014 Cadillac Escalade while driving in the left-center lane of westbound Interstate 80 in Rockaway Township around 1:30 a.m.
The collision caused the Grand Cherokee to strike a 2004 Kia sedan that was carrying two adults and one baby. The sedan burst into flames while the Cadillac ran off the side of the road and into a grass embankment.
All three unidentified passengers of the sedan were pronounced dead on the scene at 4 a.m. The driver, 26-year-old K Santiago-Madera, and passenger, 32-year-old Brandon Green, of the Grand Cherokee were taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Uppal was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released. He was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts of death by auto, two counts of assault by auto, causing death or injury while driving with a suspended licence, possession of drug paraphernalia, and DWI.
Uppal was taken to Morris County Jail in lieu of a $300,000 bail. Identification of the deceased passengers is pending as an investigation is under way.
