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Jason Vanderee, 29, told a state judge in Paterson that he’d used heroin and fentanyl in combination with other drugs when he blacked out behind the wheel on Feb. 19, 2019.
Jon Warbeck, a former Carlstadt firefighter from Fair Lawn and his 17-year-old son, Luke, of Lincoln Park, had stopped for gas at the Delta station on northbound Route 23 around 8:45 a.m. that day.
The attendant had just closed the gas cap of their Chevy Camaro convertible when a speeding Honda Pilot with an overdosed Vanderee behind the wheel literally flew into them and the attendant, Lovedeep Fatra, 23, of Pequannock.
All three were killed instantly.
Security video shows that, based on the speed and point of impact, they couldn't have suffered. In the footage, the airborne Honda Pilot is seen shearing the top of the convertible off from the bottom of the driver's side window and smashing squarely through the attendant.
Warbeck, whose 51st birthday was the very next day, had been with the Carlstadt Fire Department from 1993-2000.
His son attended Boonton High School and was about to take his driver's test, according to community members.
Vanderee, of the Glenwood section of Vernon Township, had overdosed and had to be revived with Narcan before being taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, authorities said at the time.
Two other vehicles, a 2011 Nissan Rogue and a 2016 Ford Transit T-250 Van were also struck, they said. Occupants of both vehicles received medical treatment for minor injuries.
Besides heroin and fentanyl, a subsequent toxicology report “also showed the presence of alprazolam and cocaine” in Vanderee’s system, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.
Rather than risk the results of a trial, Vanderee -- who has a long history of drug-related offenses -- took a deal from prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of first degree aggravated manslaughter, in addition to a DUI traffic violation.
Despite his history of heroin use, Vanderee admitted that he “disregarded the substantial risk that it was probable his actions would cause death to another,” Valdes said.
In doing so, he “exercised extreme indifference to the value of human life,” the prosecutor said.
In exchange, Valdes said her office will ask Superior Court Judge Marilyn C. Clark to sentence Vanderee to 30 years in state prison, 85% of which he must serve before being eligible for parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.
It will be followed by a mandatory 15 years of parole supervision, the prosecutor said.
Clark scheduled sentencing for Jan. 27, 2022.
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