Driver, 19, Charged In I-95 Crash That Killed 3 In New Jersey
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS/AP) — New Jersey State Police say the driver of a car that crashed on Interstate 95 has been charged with two counts of death by auto and one count of assault by auto.
Police said Thursday afternoon that a third passenger had died in the crash and that charges could be upgraded further.
Police say 19-year-old Luis Delcid-Cardona fled on foot from the scene in Lawrence Township around 1 a.m. Thursday and was arrested at his home in Hamilton.
He's also charged with driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.
Police say Delcid-Cardona lost control of his car and slid into the back of a tractor-trailer.
Killed were 20-year-old Nicole Rodrigues, 18-year-old Samantha Belliveau and 19-year-old Jonathan Rivas, who had been hospitalized with head injuries and later died.
It was just 24 hours ago that Sam Belliveau was leaving work at the Texas Roadhouse in Hamilton. She would have been working Thursday night. Instead, her coworkers and friends held a moment of silence and said a prayer to remember her.
Roses and a picture are left on each table.
"She liked lit up the entire room every time she walked in," co-worker Alexa Alias said.
But now the tables in her section are lit for her.
"It still feels like a dream, like a really bad nightmare to wake up, like just wake me up from this bad nightmare. It's like not even happening because I worked with her last night. I was with her last night,"Alias said.
"A really nice girl. Very sad loss for her family and for ours," owner Norm Patten said.
"I knew Nicole too, she was also a really good girl. It's just sad to see them leave so soon, they had a really bright future ahead of them," friend Arman Elliott said.
Sam was a waitress and had been working at the Texas Roadhouse for more than a year. Staff members are still fighting back tears. Many still can't believe she's gone.
"We called her little Sam. She was just like everyone's little sister here," a co-worker said.
There will be a vigil held outside the Steinert High School Friday night.
Delcid-Cardona was ordered held on $1 million bond.
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
