A 50-year-old woman who was initially charged with vehicular homicide after a fatal wrong-way crash on Route 15 in Sparta is now facing a charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, authorities said.
Teresa Verbout, 50, of Sparta SPARTA -- A 50-year-old woman who was initially charged with vehicular homicide after a fatal wrong-way crash on Route 15 in Sparta is now facing a charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, authorities said.
Teresa Verbout, 50, of Sparta, is accused of killing Robert J. Hunter III, 22, of the Flanders section of Mount Olive, on Dec. 8 in a DWI crash.
Authorities say Verbout was heading northbound on Route 15 south in her 2014 Jeep Cherokee at about 11:06 p.m. when she nearly struck a police officer's vehicle.
The officer took evasive action and avoided crashing into the Jeep, police said. He then turned around into the northbound lanes in order to pursue the vehicle and try to stop it, police said.
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Verbout's Jeep continued traveling the wrong way in the southbound lanes, and, before police could catch up, her Jeep struck a 1998 Toyota Corolla head-on, police said. Hunter, known as "Bear" to his friends, was the driver of the Corolla. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, Verbout was driving in excess of 75 miles per hour at the time of the crash and her blood alcohol content was "well above" the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
After the crash, Verbout was flown to Morristown Medical Center with serious injuries to her legs, police said. She was initially charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and with driving while intoxicated. The prosecutor's office upgraded the charge against Verbout Wednesday afternoon.
Verbout was remanded to the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility on $500,000 bail with no 10-percent option, the prosecutor's office said. She's expected to make a first appearance in Sussex County Superior Court Thursday afternoon.
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.