A tow truck driver was gravely injured by an out-of-control vehicle while responding to a previous accident on Route 3 in Rutherford, NJ on February 13th.

Police had closed down several lanes and the shoulder while placing their vehicles and cones behind the initial two-car crash scene on the westbound highway near Park Avenue -- west of Route 17 and east of the Passaic River -- around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, Police Chief John Russo said.

Robert Thornton, 31, of Nick's Towing Service in Rutherford, had one of the vehicles on the flatbed and was preparing the second when a three-vehicle crash occurred behind the police about 45 minutes later, Russo said.

One vehicle hit another, spinning it out, then barreled "straight down the shoulder," nearly hitting several officers, as well as occupants from the first crash and marked police units, the chief said.

It then struck the car that Thornton was working on, he said.

Officers freed him from under the vehicle and rendered aid, Russo said.

Thornton, a former firefighter who lives in Ridgefield Park and volunteers with the Moonachie First Aid & Rescue Squad, was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center where he passed on Feb. 26th.