MANCHESTER – A truck struck a truck and a boat hit a jeep during an unusual collision that township police responded to on the evening of May 30.
Township police encountered this unusual scene around 12:45 p.m. at the intersection of County Route 571 and Commonwealth Boulevard.
Police responded to the Ridgeway Section of Manchester to investigate a motor vehicle crash involving three vehicles including one which was towing a boat.
Upon arrival, the officers saw a grey, 2011 full-sized Chevy Silverado pickup with heavy front-end damage facing east in the eastbound lanes of Route 571.
There was also a badly damaged black, 2015 Chevy Silverado pickup that was partially off the roadway into a traffic signal support post. Directly next to it was a pleasure boat, which appeared to have become dislodged from the trailer that was attached to the rear of the truck.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Doulas Smith, Toms River, was driving the grey pickup truck while traveling westbound on Route 571 when he attempted to make a left turn onto Commonwealth Boulevard and collided with the black pickup truck.
The black truck was being operated by Edward Liatys Jr. of Yardville who was traveling eastbound on Route 571 at the time of the crash and was towing a boat.
The force of the collision caused the boat to become dislodged from its trailer and strike a black, 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was stopped at the traffic signal on Commonwealth Boulevard.
The jeep was being operated by township resident David McCluskey. Five occupants of Liatys’s truck were transported to Ocean Medical Center in Brick for minor injuries.
Assisting at the scene were members of the Manchester Emergency Medical Services, and the Manchester Volunteer Fire Department. The cause of the crash is ongoing and is being investigated by Patrolman George Smith of the department’s Patrol Bureau.
