The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and the Mantua  Township Police Department are investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash that  occurred after a passenger fled a traffic stop on Route 55 in Mantua Township. 

At approximately 11:57 p.m. on July 19, 2026, officers with the Mantua Township  Police Department conducted a motor vehicle stop for a traffic offense on  southbound Route 55 near mile marker 50. While one officer was standing with the  driver outside of the vehicle, a backseat passenger, identified as Holly Hageman, 41,  was ordered to exit the vehicle by another officer. Instead, Hageman climbed into  the driver’s seat and drove away at a high rate of speed. Also present in the vehicle  at the time was a 5-year-old child.  

Attempts by the officers to locate Hageman were unsuccessful. The original driver  was transported to the Mantua Township Police Department. While still at the  police department, the officers and driver were notified by the New Jersey State  Police that Hageman had crashed the car into a tree and sustained fatal injuries.  The child’s injuries from the crash do not appear to be life threatening. The crash  occurred approximately three miles from the location of the initial motor vehicle  stop.