MASSIVE PIN - Squad 40 / Engine 40 Driving on wrong side of Highway Tractor Trailer On Top of Car!

ROBBINSVILLE — A Camden County woman is lucky to be alive after her car was crushed beneath a tractor trailer during a three-truck accident on Route 130 yesterday afternoon, police said.

Donnalee Reynolds, a 55-year-old West Berlin resident, is in serious condition but expected to survive the wreck that trapped her underneath the truck’s wheel and axle for over 30 minutes, police said.

“It’s her lucky day, I think, if you’re going to call that lucky,” said Clark Underhill, a Canadian truck driver who witnessed the rescue.

The collision happened across the highway from Mackey Towing, where a heavy-duty wrecker was available to respond to the scene within minutes. Workers were able to hook cables to the front of the truck and hoist the cab off Reynolds’ car.

“They lifted the truck up and she picked her head up,” Underhill said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The accident began on Route 130 just before 3:30 p.m., when a truck driven by 48-year-old Rafael Dominguez of Willingboro collided with the back of a second tractor trailer, police said. Dominguez’ truck crossed the median of the highway and came to rest across the southbound lanes of traffic, police said.

The second tractor trailer, driven by 43-year-old Brooklyn resident Mykola Pavlyuchyk, struck the back of Reynolds’ car, and the car hit the back of a tractor trailer driven by 37-year-old Jose Davila of Bethlehem, Pa., according to police.

Sandwiched between the two trucks, Reynolds' car had nowhere to go, and the force of the rear impact pushed Pavlyuchyk's truck on top of the woman's vehicle.
Through his rearview mirror, Davila saw the collision.

“The car hit me, and the truck was on top of the car,” he said. “And I just started shaking.”

Davila went over to Reynolds, who he said was bloodied and slumped over the wheel of the car.

“I just saw the lady, and I asked her, ‘Are you OK, lady?’ and she was pinned down, she couldn’t talk,” Davila said.

“The engine was on top of her,” he said.

Workers from Mackey Towing and Treat’s Garage ran out to the crash to see if they could help.

“We thought she was dead,” said Ron Lincoln, who had come out to repair Underhill’s truck. “That’s what we said at first.”

Jim Molnar, who operates the wrecker, said the men made a chilling discovery when they reached the wreck.

“And we saw a carseat in the back, and we said, ‘woo,’” he said.

Molnar asked Reynolds if there was a baby in the car, and she said no. Then he asked again to make sure.

“I know she was in shock,” he said. “I’d probably be in shock too.”

Patrolman Tom Paglione was driving through the area when he saw the accident scene and stopped, just as calls starting flowing into the police department for an accident on the highway.

Molnar said he called Robbinsville police, and told them they were facing a heavy extrication.

Township firefighters and EMS crews rushed to the scene, and were able to free Reynolds from the mangled, crushed mass of her car after the tractor trailer was removed. She was taken by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where the medical staff found she had internal injuries, police said. None of the truck drivers was injured.

All lanes of Route 130 were shut down between Meadowbrook Road and Windsor Road for 2½ hours for the investigation. Detectives from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and state troopers also arrived at the scene.