From The Star Ledger.
State Police have identified the teenager killed when the car he was riding in slammed into a tractor trailer in the southbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike early this morning as 17-year-old Thomas Demetro of Orlando, Fla.
Demetro, a passenger in a red 2004 Dodge Viper, was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:03 a.m. after being ejected from the car, police said. The driver, Mark J. Leo, 21, of Edison, was also ejected from the vehicle and was taken to University Hospital in Newark. Leo was listed in critical condition, hospital spokesman Rogers Ramsey said.
Neither Demetro or Leo were wearing seatbelts when the car, which was driving in the left lane near exit 14 in Elizabeth, veered into the tractor trailer in the center right lane and then slammed into the guardrail, State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said.
The tractor trailer then skidded to the left and struck the Dodge Viper again, police said.
Jones said blood was drawn from Leo to assist in the investigation of the cause of the crash. The accident caused delays of more than 90 minutes as all traffic was diverted to the car lanes. Exit 14 of the Turnpike was reopened at 6:40 a.m., but the outer roadway, where the accident occurred, was not reopened until 10:18 a.m.
The driver of the tractor trailer, Taif Allah, 33, of Elizabeth, suffered minor injuries but was able to assist police in their investigation.
