Milltown crossing guard hit by passing car, again
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

MILLTOWN — A borough crossing guard was injured yesterday when she was hit by a car while on duty.

The incident represented the second time in the last four years that Domenica Lineberger, a crossing guard for over 30 years, has been hit by a car, officials said.

“A lot of people don’t realize it, but there is that element of danger with being a crossing guard,” said Milltown Police Chief Raymond Geipel. “Especially with the volume of traffic anymore, just stepping out in the street like that is dangerous.”

The accident took place during steady rainfall around 8:20 a.m. when a car driven by North Brunswick resident Anthony Palsy Jr. struck Lineberger while heading south on North Main Street near Church Road.

Geipel said Lineberger was taken by the rescue squad to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, and treated for a leg injury. At the scene, she received help from witnesses and passers-by.

“One of the residents that was dropping off her child at school brought over a blanket,” Geipel said. “[The] Rev. Robert W. Scott from the Methodist Church was out there trying to at least stand over and keep the rain off her; some people did come and offer blankets, too.”

When another crossing guard came over to attend to Lineberger, a local resident took over their crossing post near Joyce Kilmer School.

“A lot of people were very concerned and trying to help,” Geipel said.

One of those people was Raymond Cappella, co-owner of the Cappella Bros. Hardware and Supply Co. Cappella said he was in his store on Main Street when he heard drivers beeping their horns and noticed people gathering on the street.

Cappella immediately went outside to help Lineberger, whom he said used to help him cross the street when he was a child. But he stressed that many onlookers helped out as well.

“It wasn’t just me; there were a lot of people. Reverend Scott from across the street and the Milltown Police Department were wonderful,” Cappella said, adding that his upstairs tenant, Nick Strickland, helped as well.

“It’s a horrible feeling in your chest when something like that happens,” he said.

Cappella said that many of the residents have a connection with Lineberger.

“She [helped me cross as a child], and she’s like mom, so anybody would have done the same thing, and many people did,” he said.

Geipel said police are conducting an investigation and still seeking witnesses. No charges have been filed in the accident.