Crime & Safety

Prosecutor: Speed Likely a Factor in Fatal Crash

Drug and alcohol use do not appear to be a factor in accident that killed two Mount Olive teens.

Speed was likely a factor, but there has been no immediate indication drugs or alcohol contributed to a fatal crash that claimed the lives of two teens Tuesday night in Mount Olive, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

Nicholas Novaky, 18, of Budd Lake, and Neil Solanki, 19, of Flanders, were . Novaky, who was the driver of the SUV, was a senior at Mount Olive High School and was scheduled to graduate on Thursday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the accident occurred on Wolfe Road, a short distance south of Cassidy Road. The vehicle, a 1998 Dodge Durango, was traveling south on Wolfe Road and crossed over to the northbound lane. It then went off the roadway onto the northbound side and crashed into a large tree, according to the prosecutor’s office.

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"We do believe that speed was a contributing factor to the accident," Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Bianchi said investigators are still gathering details, and while it did not appear drugs or alcohol played a factor in the crash, toxicology results will not be available for several weeks.

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"It's a fresh investigation," Bianchi said. "We are interviewing a number of people right now, so I won't get into the details of where they were going or coming from until we get information from these people."

Anyone with information should call the prosecutor’s office at 973-285-6200, Mount Olive Police at 973-691-0850 or the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stopper Program at 973-COPCALL.


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