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 Posted: Wed, Sep 10 2014, 6:18 pm EDT Post subject: Cranbury man indicted in January I-95 Ewing crash that killed woman |
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Cranbury man indicted in January I-95 Ewing crash that killed woman
EWING – Prosecutors said a Cranbury man who caused a January accident on I-95 in Ewing that killed Tamla Wolcott was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.
Michael Petillo, 39, was indicted by a Mercer County grand jury in June for second degree death by auto and third degree assault by auto.
During a bail hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said Petillo admitted to police he was under the influence when his car veered out into another lane, causing a Volvo in which Wolcott, 40, was a passenger, swerve off the road. Petillo’s name had not come out publicly in previous reports on the accident.
State Police Sgt. Brian Polite previously said the Volvo was traveling south near Exit 1 for Route 29 when the driver, Alecia Hill, a 39-year-old Pleasantville woman, apparently lost control and the car landed in the woods.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Mennuti said Petillo tested positive for Oxycodone and Xanax and “stumbled repeatedly” during sobriety tests, which were stopped for fear that Petillo would injure himself.
Robert L. Tarver, Petillo’s defense attorney, said the drugs were prescribed to his client and that the accident did not involve alcohol.
Both Hill and another passenger, Danielle Elam, 42, of Virginia, were injured in the accident, but were later released from the hospital.
Police said Wolcott was a West Orange resident, but friends have also said that she lived in Maryland.
Citing a lack of criminal history, Judge Gerald Counsel set Petillo’s bail at $50,000, with a ten percent option. Petillo is scheduled to return to court Oct. 27.
James McEvoy may be reached at jmcevoy@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @byJamesMcEvoy. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook. |
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