Prosecutor: Parsippany Woman Struck, Killed Man

A 32-year-old Parsippany woman was charged Sunday with vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated after she struck and killed an East Hanover man and crashed into parked cars Saturday afternoon, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

Vanessa E. Brown was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to maintain her lane, driving with unsafe tires and driving an unregistered vehicle.

UPDATE: The charges were upgraded Monday to first-degree aggravated manslaughter.

According to a statement released Sunday by Capt. Jeffrey Paul, a spokesman for Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, Brown's 2008 black four-door Toyota Camry struck and killed Ralph Politi Jr. near 30 Ridgedale Ave. in East Hanover Saturday at about 1:50 p.m.

Politi, 49, was standing by the driver's side door of his pickup truck, which was parked in a space parallel to the roadway, when he was struck, the prosecutor's office said.

Brown's vehicle left the roadway, struck Politi and continued another approximately 60 feet and crashed into several parked cars in a nearby lot, the prosecutor's office said.

There were no other occupants in Brown's vehicle, the prosecutor's office said.

Brown is being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail with no 10 percent option.

A joint investigation was conducted by the East Hanover Township Police Department, Morris County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit, Morris County Prosecutor's Office Vehicular Homicide Unit, Morris County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Section and the Morris County Medical Examiner's Office.

The investigation remains ongoing. If anyone has information regarding the incident, contact the East Hanover Police Department at 973-887-0432, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at 973-285-6200 or the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stoppers Program at 973-COP-CALL.