A crash, including police recruits who tried to help, left a man dead and a New Jersey roadway closed for hours Friday.
The wreck along westbound Route 70 near Sam Pitts Road in Manchester Township, Ocean County — near the township public works department — just after 7 a.m. involved four cars, said Manchester Township Police.
A driver rear-ended a police car filled with Ocean County police recruits sitting on the shoulder waiting to enter a police firing range, setting off the chain reaction crash, police said.
The driver, identified as 21-year-old Hilario Guillen, of Browns Mills, was thrown from his car.
The recruits jumped into action following the incident running to Guillen who was lifeless on the ground.
"I was just there to help and my first reaction was there to help him and that was my main goal," said Robert Bleichner, one of the recruits.
Bleichner and fellow recruit Vincent Zenna switched off doing chest compressions until medics arrived.
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Despite their efforts, Guillen did not survive, police said.
"It is something that you have to be prepared to see. I feel like I am fairly prepared to be exposed to that," Zenna said.
None of the other motorists suffered injuries.
