The wheel had become dislodged from a Ford F-250 during a separate crash, according to Charles Marchan, a spokesman with the New Jersey State Police.
Elaina S. Clarke was driving south at 5:31 a.m. Tuesday June 6 near milepost 85.7 in Toms River when she struck the pickup's wheel, Marchan said.
She veered off the highway to the left and slammed into the back of the disabled unoccupied pickup, Marchan said.
As a result of the crash, Clarke sustained fatal injuries, he said.
The crash remains under investigation.
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