Wrong-way driver in Route 9 crash, say Marlboro police

One of the drivers in today's grisly predawn crash on Route 9 in Marlboro was headed in the wrong direction, against traffic, according to police.

Two drivers and a passenger received hospital treatment in the aftermath of the collision at about 12:32 AM in the southbound lanes. The highway was blocked at the Union Hill Road overpass until about 6 AM.

Police said that a 2005 Toyota Highlander driven by Sergey Yelizarov, 23, of Manalapan, moving north in the southbound lanes, collided with a southbound 2016 Volkswagen Jetta driven by Kenneth Madge, Jr., 28, of Freehold Township.

The impact sent debris flying, with enough velocity an ddistance to hit a 2010 Hyundai Genesis in the northbound lanes, police said.

Madge was treated at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Yelizarov required extrication from the severely-damaged SUV, and was taken by Marlboro first-aiders to Centrastate Medical Center in Freehold.

A woman riding in the Highlander's front passenger seat was transported to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center by Morganville first-aiders. Injuries for all three were described as non-life-threatening.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation by Marlboro Police Corporal Kenneth Marrone.