Wrong-way driver caused 3-car Parkway wreck, cops say

ABERDEEN — A man driving on the wrong side of the Garden State Parkway on Saturday morning caused a three-car wreck that injured three adults and six children, officials said.

The crash, near Exit 117 and Route 36, left the northbound express lanes closed for about three hours, causing traffic jams for miles.

Nicholis C. Alfano, 35, of Hazlet, was driving south in his 2006 Jeep Cherokee about 11:02 a.m. when he went off the road, crossed the grass median and headed the wrong way into northbound traffic, State Police said.

Alfano hit a 2014 Honda Pilot, causing debris that struck a 2014 Honda Accord.

One of the vehicles ended upside-down on the roadway.

Troopers on Saturday evening were still investigating why Alfano went off the road. He has not been charged with any crime or traffic violations.

Alfano was taken by helicopter to a hospital with serious injuries.

His passenger, James J. Cotugo, 42, of Union Beach, suffered "moderate injuries," troopers said.

The Pilot driver, 59-year-old Union Beach resident Stephen Roberson, also suffered moderate injuries. He was driving six children, ranging in age from 7 to 16, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The Accord driver appears to have walked away unscathed.

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