Cause of accident that killed 3 still a mystery
Two WHS students, township woman die in violent crash
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

Police are still trying to determine why a car driven by a Woodbridge High School student careened into a Jeep Wrangler on Route 35 last week, leaving three people dead and several others injured.

"The accident is still under investigation," Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch said. "We will perform a toxicology test, which will probably take a month or two for us to get the results back."

Richard Ryan Dzyak, 17, Hopelawn, and Tony Carlos Teijeiro, 16, Woodbridge, were pronounced dead at 7:41 p.m. Nancy J. Potter, 42, Woodbridge Proper, was transported to University Hospital in Newark, where she died shortly before midnight.

The accident occurred at 6:56 p.m. on Sept. 12.

Shirley McCloud Dzyak said her son was a careful driver.

"Whenever his friends were drinking, he would take the keys away from them," she said. "He held them dear to his heart. That's the type of person he was."

Police said Dzyak, who was traveling northbound on Route 35, crossed into the southbound lane, sideswiped a 1998 Hyundai driven by Maria Nolau, 39, of Port Reading, and crashed almost head-on into a Jeep Wrangler driven by Kristy Parfianowicz, 29, of Woodbridge. The Jeep Wrangler flipped onto the passenger's side, where Potter was sitting.

Nolau and her daughter, Megan Nolau, 19, and son, Justin Nolau, 16, were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick with nonthreatening injuries, authorities said. Megan and Justin were released, but as of Sept. 14, their mother was still in the hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Parfianowicz was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she is still recovering, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Relatives of Parfianowicz and Potter asked authorities last week about a pet cat that was also in the Jeep Wrangler. Workers at Logan's Towing, an impound lot in North Brunswick, found the cat unharmed in a carrier, police said.

Dzyak and Teijeiro had just started their senior year at Woodbridge High School two weeks ago.

Dzyak, an avid skateboarder, bowler and hunter, will be missed, his mother said.

"He was a gentle giant," she said. "He was quiet but had the biggest mouth. He was well loved, and he will be missed."

Dzyak is survived by his parents, Myron and Shirley McCloud Dzyak; his paternal grandmother, Irene Dzyak of Colonia; a brother and his fiancée, Paul Dzyak and Bonnie Ward; Bonnie's daughter, Destiny; his girlfriend, Stephanie Nagy of Woodbridge; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Teijeiro was an avid skateboarder, a movie fan, and an extremely talented artist.

Teijeiro is survived by his mother, Graciela Lopez of Woodbridge; his father, Antonio Teijeiro of Elizabeth; a sister, Sussy Teijeiro of Woodbridge; and his maternal grandmother, Brumilda Diaz of Elizabeth.

Potter was an alcohol and drug counselor in New York and New Jersey for the past 15 years.

She was predeceased by her father, Richard J. Potter, in 1998 and is survived by her mother, Marian T. Mazza Potter of Manchester; a brother, Richard G. Potter of Manchester; a sister and brother-in-law, Peggy and Jack Kenney of Monroe; four nieces, Allyson, Jill, Kim and Kelly; her companion, Kristy Parfianowicz; and aunts, uncles and cousins.