Alstede Farms driver gets $239 fine for fatal accident

HANOVER – Previously cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, the driver of a shuttle van that struck and killed toddler Elizabeth “Ella” Fuehring at Alstede Farms in Chester Township last fall has pleaded guilty to a careless driving ticket.

Flanders resident Neil McWilliams, 53, appeared in Hanover Township Municipal Court Monday night with defense lawyer Gerald J. Kelly, and pleaded guilty to the ticket before Judge Brian R. O’Toole.

“It’s a tragedy, really, for so many people,” Kelly told the judge of the Oct. 12, 2014 accident. “There was nothing here by any means intentional, nothing anticipated.”

The case was transferred from Chester Township Municipal Court to Hanover Municipal Court because of a potential conflict. Lawyers for the estate of the deceased child have filed a notice of intent to sue multiple parties, including Alstede Farms, and Chester Township itself, but haven’t yet done so.

On behalf of the silent, somber-faced McWilliams, Kelly told the judge that his client, a six-year employee of the popular, busy Alstede Farms, was sitting in the idling shuttle bus when his foot slipped off the brake pedal. McWilliams accidentally put his foot on the accelerator when he meant to brake the van and it moved forward, colliding into another shuttle van in front of it.

The toddler, her mother, Sarah Fuehring, and their adult friend, Joanna Alemany, were all standing between the two vans. The child was killed and the two women sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Kelly said that McWilliams has been in counseling since the accident, both professionally and in a “pastoral” setting.

“It could so easily not have been (a fatality) but for the positioning of people,” Kelly said.

None of the victims appeared in court for the plea though they were given advance notice of it and had the right to speak. Attorney Nicholas Spindler appeared on behalf of Sarah Fuehring and her daughter’s estate, and said the family would leave the decision on penalties for the ticket to the judge’s discretion.

“That’s very magnanimous,” O’Toole said.

Spindler said the family also does not object to a “civil reservation,” or bar on the guilty plea being used against McWilliams in a potential lawsuit.

The judge imposed a fine of $206 for the careless driving summons, plus $33 in court costs, for a total of $239. O’Toole said he normally would impose some period of license loss but noted that McWilliams is still subject to an administrative review of the fatal accident by the state Motor Vehicle Commission, which has the power to suspend his driver’s license.

“I understand you’ve been through a lot. This has been a tragedy for everyone,” O’Toole said to McWilliams.

Earlier this year, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Chester Township Police Chief Wayne Martini announced the end of an investigation into the Oct. 12 death of Ella, in a parking area of Alstede Farms during its Harvest Fest celebration. The probe concluded that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing on McWilliams’ part.

The penalties for careless driving call for a fine, two license points, and in extreme cases, up to 15 days in jail and a license suspension.

According to the Alstede Farms website and a story published in May 2014 by the Observer-Tribune newspaper, the farm, in conjunction with The Streets of Chester Mall, spent $25,000 to buy a small shuttle van that was dubbed the “I Love Chester Express” and operated by McWilliams.

The criminal investigation revealed that a 2006 Chevrolet van — which other authorities said was the Chester Express van operated by McWilliams — and a second black van were shuttling passengers to and from stops between the Gladstone Train Station and Alstede Farms on Oct. 12.

At the time of the incident, the black van was parked in a driveway of Route 24 and loading passengers. The Chevrolet van was positioned behind the black van. The toddler, her mother Sarah Fuehring, and friend Joanna Alemany were between the two vehicles when the Chevrolet rolled forward, causing the fatality and injuries to the two adults, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Sarah Fuehring suffered a fractured leg and Alemany, who was at the farm with the Fuehrings and her own children, suffered a fractured pelvis. Fuehring was released from Morristown Medical Center on Oct. 22, and Alemany was discharged on Oct. 21, but both women still required physical therapy and other medical treatment.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettDR.com.