A Middlesex County, New Jersey man allegedly fell asleep at the wheel seconds before he fatally crashed his truck into a pedestrian pushing a stalled car along Interstate 78 in Glendon.
Goce Josifoski, 52, of Fords, is charged with one count felony homicide by vehicle; one count misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter; two counts misdemeanor reckless endangerment; and 17 summary traffic offenses.
The charges are in connection with the death of 33-year-old Tyler R. Kolaja of Hamburg, Sussex County. Kolaja was pronounced dead at the crash scene on June 16, 2025. He died from multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death was ruled accidental by Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek.
Josifoski was arraigned Monday before District Judge Daniel Corpora, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured.
Allentown-based attorney John Waldron, representing Josifoski, told lehighvalleylive.com an accident reconstructionist secured by the defense will provide testimony Josifoski’s reaction time was “above normal” and speed was “within the speed limit.”
Pennsylvania State Police in Belfast said the crash happened at 10:15 p.m. June 16, 2025 in the eastbound lanes at mile marker 74.3, near Williams Township.
Kolaja was pushing a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox as his girlfriend, also from New Jersey, was attempting to steer the disabled car.
Josifoski, heading east in a white 2014 Volvo tractor-trailer, struck the Chevrolet, Kolaja, and another blue disabled 2020 Volvo rig on the shoulder of the highway, state police said.
Kolaja’s girlfriend was taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill for treatment of minor injuries and later released. Both tractor-trailer drivers were not injured.
Investigators later determined Kolaja’s Chevrolet ran out of gas and stalled on the right shoulder behind the disabled rig. Kolaja added fuel from a gas can to the Chevrolet, the engine started again and he was able to move back onto the right lane before stalling again, alongside the disabled rig.
The Chevrolet was blocking the right lane when Josifoski approached the scene from the left lane, state police said.
Josifoski allegedly nearly struck a female witness in another car before swerving to the right, striking Kolaja and the Chevrolet. After striking the Chevrolet, Josifoski’s rig swerved back into the left lane and drove off the roadway into the grassy median where it struck a cable barrier and came to rest, the affidavit of probable cause states.
After being struck by the tractor-trailer, the Chevrolet was pushed to the right, continued to travel east, and struck the cab of the disabled rig. The Chevrolet then spun around in an unknown direction and an unknown number of times before striking the guardrail along the right shoulder and coming to rest, state police said.
The witness was interviewed by investigators on June 16, 2025. She reported driving normally when the vehicle in front of her slammed on its brakes, causing her to slam on her brakes. Josifoski’s rig, traveling behind her, also braked, state police said.
The woman then saw the white Volvo tractor-trailer swerve into the right lane, heard the crash, and then saw the rig end up on the grassy median. The woman, a firefighter, attempted to assist Kolaja at the scene, but reported he was unresponsive, according to court records.
The girlfriend told investigators Kolaja was pushing the Chevrolet for approximately a minute and 30 seconds before the crash.
Investigators on Sept. 11, 2025 obtained dashcam footage from the white Volvo tractor-trailer.
Footage showed Josifoski’s eyes are closed and he “appeared to be asleep,” police wrote in charging documents. He allegedly appeared to be awakened by the brake lights of the vehicle in front of him.
Within two seconds of waking up, he hit Kolaja, police said.