N.J. man accused of killing 3 in crash while high didn’t know heroin was laced with fentanyl, lawyer says

The New Jersey man accused of killing three people when he slammed his car into a Passaic County gas station while high on drugs will claim his client did not know the heroin he used prior to driving was laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic drug that caused him to pass out behind the wheel, his attorney said.

Jason Vanderee, 29, of Sussex County, was indicted last month on multiple counts of aggravated manslaughter, death by auto, vehicular homicide, drug possession and other charges related to the Feb. 19 crash at a Delta Gas Station on Route 23 in Wayne.

Defense Attorney John Latoracca has filed a notice in the Superior Court that he plans to use fentanyl as a defense should the case go to trial.

Vanderee “intends to rely on the defense of intoxication which is not self-induced (and) predicated upon unknowing introduction of fentanyl into his system,” the notice states.

Fentanyl, which is used to treat pain in cancer patients, is many more times more powerful than heroin and was blamed in 2017 for more than 1,700 overdose deaths in New Jersey.

“Laboratory analysis shows that the bags of heroin purchased and used by Jason shortly before the crash were laced with fentanyl,” Latoracca wrote in an email Wednesday to NJ Advance Media.

“Like so many other cases, the fentanyl caused an overdose and rendered Jason unconscious,” Latoracca wrote, adding that a witness “saw Jason slumped over the wheel before his vehicle went off the road.”

The crash took off the roof of a car stopped for gas, killing Jon Warbeck, 50, of Fair Lawn, his son, Luke Warbeck, 17, of Lincoln Park, and the station attendant, Lovedeep Fatra, 22, of Pequannock.

After the crash, Vanderee was given a dose of Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdose.

A search of Vanderee’s vehicle turned up heroin and a used syringe.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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