Cherry Hill crash kills driver, man pruning tree

Two Cherry Hill men died yesterday morning when a speeding car crashed on Route 70, killing the driver and an Air Force pilot who was pruning a tree in his yard, authorities said.

The driver, Stephen M. Moffa, 41, of the 400 block of East Chapel Avenue, was driving a 2006 Pontiac GTO westbound in the left lane shortly before 10 a.m., police said.

Near New Hampshire Avenue, the car crossed the right lane and shoulder, then struck a pole and the homeowner, Lt. Col. Mark C. Jennings, 44, of the 400 block of West Route 70.

Jennings was an F-16 pilot assigned to the New Jersey Air National Guard's 177th Fighter Wing in Pomona, said Maj. Yvonne Mays, a public affairs officer with the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Jennings and Moffa were pronounced dead shortly after the accident.

Cherry Hill police said witnesses reported seeing the red GTO "traveling at a high rate of speed" in the Erlton section of the township.

The car's wreckage came to a halt in the home's driveway. The crash temporarily knocked out power in the area, officials said.