November 7, 2020

MANCHESTER, NJ (OCEAN)–On Thursday, November 5, 2020, at approximately 05:28 pm, officers from the Manchester Township Police Department responded to the area of Beckerville Road near the intersection of State Highway 70, in the Whiting section of the Township to investigate a motor vehicle accident. The crash involved a single vehicle, which struck a utility pole and then a tree.

Upon arrival, officers located a gray, 2012, Ford Escape with extensive damage in the wood line on the southern shoulder of Beckerville Road. The investigation revealed that the Ford was traveling west on Beckerville Road when it crossed the centerline and ran off the roadway on the south bound shoulder. The Ford then collided with a utility pole and continued forward into the wood line where it impacted a tree. The driver of the Ford, identified as 60-year-old Lynda Brown of Brick, was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the collision. Both the front and side curtain airbags of the Ford were deployed. Ms. Brown was unresponsive when first responders arrived and was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash and the manner of death are pending investigation at this time.

Assisting at the scene were EMTs from the Manchester Township Division of Emergency Services, as well as paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Also assisting were members of the Whiting Volunteer Fire Department, Joint Base Fire Department, the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Unit. The roadway was closed for several hours while officers conducted the investigation. This crash is being investigated by Patrolman Michael O’Hara of the department’s Traffic Safety Unit.