Four Teen Lives Lost: Drunk Driver Faces Serious Charges in NJ

Four Teen Lives Lost: Drunk Driver Faces Serious Charges in NJ

According to court documents a man who is accused of driving on the wrong side of the highway and caused a collision that killed four teens was operating a vehicle while intoxicated at over three times the legal limit.

According to investigators, Christopher Neff, 41, of Westminster, Colorado, struck an SUV head-on in Carneys Point early on Sunday after driving on the wrong side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Neff was hospitalized with severe injuries, and all four occupants of the SUV perished.

As of Wednesday, NJ State Police said Neff was still being held at the hospital. There may be more charges pending, and the investigation is still ongoing.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Neff entered the Turnpike Inn, a dive bar in Carneys Point, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. According to the affidavit of State Police officer J.K. Jenkins, surveillance footage showed him drinking many alcoholic beverages and at one point urinating outside the establishment.

At 12:32 a.m. on Sunday, Neff drove across the street to grab dinner after leaving the bar. Jenkins claimed that after driving in the wrong direction on a turnpike ramp and nearly colliding with another car, he proceeded to drive north in the southbound lanes.

According to officials, Neff's 2021 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck collided head-on with a 2025 Mazda CX5 a minute or two later. The Mazda had been in the left-hand southbound lane.

According to investigators, a tractor-trailer struck the Mazda after the initial incident.

According to authorities, all four occupants of the Mazda perished. They were identified by the police as Chaim Grossman, 18, of Fallsburg, New York; Aharon Lebovits and Shlomo Cohen, all 18, of Lakewood; and Yaakov Kilberg, 19, of Lakewood, who was operating the vehicle.

Jenkins described Neff's breath as having a "strong odor" of alcohol. He received medical care at a Delaware hospital.

In order to do a blood test, State Police secured a search warrant from the hospital for Neff's stored blood. According to Jenkins, the findings revealed that Neff's blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.22 percent.

New Jersey's legal limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.