The driver charged with a fatal crash at an unauthorized Wildwood auto encounter has a documented history of traffic violations and recently survived a serious crash, according to court records and a family member.
Gerald J. White, 37, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is charged with multiple counts of driving death, driving assault and related charges for one of the crashes that plagued the town of Wildwood Saturday night at a “pop-up” gathering known as H2oi, or H20i, or H2022.
White was driving a 2003 Infiniti that hit a 2014 Honda Civic and then two pedestrians on Burk and Atlantic avenues shortly after 9:30 p.m., authorities said. A pedestrian, Lindsay Weakland, 18, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a Civic passenger, Timothy Ogden, 34, of Clayton, died of their injuries.
This isn’t the first time White has been involved in a serious accident, his father Gerald T. White told NJ Advance Media on Sunday night.
His son recently overturned a Pontiac Supercharger while traveling 80 miles per hour on a freeway. “He went up in the air and then came down and hit the barrier twice,” the elder White said. He did not say where this accident happened.
Gerald T. White said he would warn his son about high-performance cars and their safe driving, warning him that dangerous driving could prove fatal. Father and son worked on cars together, and he knew his son was active in the automotive community, Gerald T. White said.
Although listed as living in Pittsburgh, the son, Gerald J. White, currently lives in Delaware with his girlfriend and young children, his father said. A recent post from Pennsylvania lists an address in Delaware.
White has a long history of driving offenses over the past decade, racking up thousands of dollars in fines and facing multiple license suspensions, according to New Jersey municipal court records.
None of the offenses listed on the New Jersey Courts website resulted in injuries to other drivers.
White’s most recent charges in New Jersey relate to driving with a suspended license, for which he received two tickets in 2020. Both times he negotiated pleas for failing to process a driver’s license.
Prior to that, White had been charged with driving with a suspended license in 2013 and 2011. It’s unclear what led to the four suspensions.
A fifth charge of driving without a license stems from a prolific history of parking tickets. This charge was resolved with $133 in costs paid in cash.
Most of the tickets were from Elizabeth and Linden and included things like not wearing a seatbelt, running a red light, turning incorrectly, not having a license or insurance card in the car, blocking traffic or have tinted windows that are too dark.
He was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident that caused property damage in 2011, but the charges were dismissed. Online court records do not provide further details.
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Cars rammed into pedestrians, other cars at unauthorized ‘pop-up’ car rally
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Katie Kausch can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @Katie Kaush.