Eight injured in
4-vehicle crash

MANALAPAN — Eight people were injured in a four-vehicle accident on Route 9, just north of Ryan Road, on Saturday evening.

Manalapan Patrolman Kevin Ruditsky was the first officer to respond to the scene at 6:36 p.m.

According to police, Steven Schulman, 37, of Freehold, was operating a Ford Windstar van which struck a vehicle operated by Robert Cosden, 46, of Cherry Hill. Schulman, his wife and three children suffered injuries, according to police.

Cosden was uninjured.

After striking Cosden’s vehicle, Schulman’s van proceeded onto the median and returned to the northbound lane where it struck a vehicle being operated by Walter Brand, 37, of Farmingdale. Brand and two passengers in his vehicle, Mark Ruzicka, 36, of Asbury Park, and Kate O’Shea, 20, of Belmar, were injured in the accident.

Following that impact, Brand’s vehicle struck a vehicle on Route 9 north which was being operated by Julius Krasnoff of Manalapan. Krasnoff’s wife, Diana, was also in the vehicle. The Krasnoffs were not injured in the collision.

Volunteers from the Gordons Corner Fire Department responded to the scene and extricated O’Shea from the vehicle in which she was riding.

The Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad, the Marlboro First Aid Squad, the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad and MONOC paramedics also responded to the scene.

A summons was issued to Schulman for careless driving.