Woman killed after fleeing Route 55 traffic stop in Cumberland County

Holly Hageman, 41, was killed after a Route 55 traffic stop in Mantua Township turned into a fatal crash with a 5-year-old child inside the vehicle. The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office said the incident began about 11:57 p.m. July 19 and is being investigated with the Mantua Township Police Department.

Authorities said the vehicle had been pulled over by Mantua Township police for a traffic violation when Hageman, who was initially in the backseat, climbed into the driver’s seat and fled. The car then crashed, and one report said it struck a tree. The child in the vehicle was injured in the crash.

The case has drawn attention across South Jersey because it unfolded on Route 55, a corridor that carries heavy traffic through the region and has long been a flashpoint for serious wrecks. A crash there can quickly pull in police, fire crews and investigators, and this one left prosecutors and local police reconstructing how a roadside stop turned into a deadly end.

The fatal wreck also adds to a troubling record for the highway. Route 55 has been the site of other severe crashes in the region, including a 2021 Cumberland County collision that killed a child and injured six other people. For drivers who use the road daily, the latest death again shows how fast a stop, a wrong move and a high-speed roadway can combine into a tragedy with lasting consequences.

Officials have not released a detailed account of the moments between the stop and the crash beyond saying Hageman fled after moving to the front of the vehicle. With the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and Mantua Township police still investigating, the case now stands as both a fatal crash and a review of how a traffic stop escalated on one of South Jersey’s most heavily traveled highways.