A woman and an elderly man died when she lost consciousness and accelerated her SUV into a New Jersey restaurant.

Patty Rulon, 54, was driving north on Route 9 South in Eagleswood, New Jersey when she slumped over the steering wheel of her 2009 GMC Acadia with her foot on the accelerator and slammed into Calloway’s Restaurant around 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Rulon died at the scene, investigators said. Her front-seat passenger, 91-year-old Albert Rulon, died while be medevaced to the hospital.

A caretaker and 15-year-old boy in the back seat both suffered injuries that left them hospitalized in stable condition, prosecutors said.

Before striking Calloway’s, the SUV cut over a bank and struck some shrubs and bushes, prosecutors said while noting there appeared to be nothing criminal about the crash.

No staff was hurt, Calloway’s owner Chris Rossiter said.

Prosecutors didn’t know the relationship between the victims.

Those wild and crazy kids are coming back!

God save us all.

The cast from "The Jersey Shore" appear to be heading back to the shore and a TV near you. The long rumored docuseries reuniting the gang appears to have gotten a green light, according to castmember Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, who shared on social media the group would reunite on Aug. 20 on E!

The Hollywood Reporter previously reported the docuseries would be titled "Reunion Road Trip," and be an unscripted entry attempting to "capture an epic show reunion as the cast drives down memory lane, making familiar stops along the way — sharing stories, revisiting hot spots and catching up on each other's current lives."

"The Jersey Shore" originally ran on MTV from 2009-2012 starring Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jennifer "JWoww" Farley, Samantha Giancola, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole "Snookie" Polizzi and Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino. Angelina Pivarnick and Deena Nicole Cortese were also members of the cast during the show's run.

Time has been kinder to some members of the cast than others. Polizzi and Farley wed and became mothers after the show ended while while Ortiz-Magro currently appears on another reality show "Famously Single."

In May, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation inspired by Polizzi to cap what state public universities can pay speakers. Republican Assemblyman John DiMaio said he was inspired to write the legislation after Polizzi was paid $32,000 in student fees to speak at a Rutgers University student event in 2011.

The former castmember more recently in the news has been Sorrentino, who in April along with his brother pleaded not guilty to tax fraud charges after federal prosecutors said they filed fake tax returns and claimed luxury car and clothing purchases were business expenses.

NBC10's Rosemary Connors joins Gillian Kocher of the Pennsylvania SPCA and Beck's Cajun Cafe owner Bill Beck to duiscuss how dogs like Lula are up for adoption as part of NBC10's Clear the Shelters adoption event. Beck's chipped in $2,000 as a donation to the PSPCA.

A jury in Montgomery County convicted a towing operator of transporting millions of dollars’ worth of heroin in car batteries, not buying defense's claims that a Mexican drug cartel forced him to make nine drug runs between Atlanta and New York.

A jury found David Pacheco, 45, of East Norriton guilty on a slew of drug distribution counts Thursday.

At his four-day trial, Pacheco's attorney John McMahon Jr. argued that his client acted under duress after a Mexican drug cartel threatened his family back in Mexico.

Prosecutors argued Pacheco couldn't have been under duress considering he had the contact information for two Montgomery County detectives who he could have called for help, district attorney office spokeswoman Kate Delano said.

The district attorney plans to seek a lengthy sentence when sentencing occurs in the next 90 days.

Pacheco’s conviction came after a nine-month investigation involving several agencies, including the DEA, Pennsylvania State Police, and four local police departments. Pacheco was first identified in April of 2015 as a suspect in a major heroin operation involving Atlanta, Montgomery County and New York City.

Officials say Pacheco, who owned D&J Towing in Norristown, made at least nine trips to New York City to service wholesale heroin buyers. During each trip, Pacheco drove to Atlanta where he received kilos of heroin that were stored in retrofitted, working car batteries, according to police. He then allegedly drove to Montgomery County and then to the Bronx where he was paid for the heroin. Police said he then returned to Georgia with the drug money.

Pacheco’s final trip occurred on Jan. 10. He was pulled over by state troopers at the King of Prussia toll plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after being monitored under suspicion of drug running. Police said they found three kilos (6.6 pounds) of heroin with a street value of about $1 million stored in a car battery inside his vehicle.

Pacheco transported around 900,000 doses of heroin during his drug runs.

He made nine trips that concealed 3 kilos of heroin each time that translated to about 100,000 doses of the dangerous drug, Delano said.

Pacheco was charged in February with criminal conspiracy, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance and other related offenses. He was held on $9 million bail.

Two other people -- one in Atlanta and one in New York -- also have been found guilty in the drug transpiration case, Delano said.

Time is running out. The Gloucester County Animal Shelter pre-adoption application deadline is coming up for Clear the Shelters day, an day that shelters across the region often waive their adoption fees to encourage pet adoption.

The Gloucester County Animals Shelter is ensuring that, in the rush and excitement of the day, every animal truly goes home to the family it belongs with.

Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger says, “Completing and submitting your adoption application early will help you get pre-approved so that you are able to take your new family member home on Clear the Shelters Day.”

Adopting a pet means saving that animal and allowing more room in the shelter for the next animal to come through, but for the Gloucester County Animal Shelter pre-adoption applications are due by August 16.

Because “Determining what kind of animal you are looking to adopt can be a hard decision,” Freeholder Dan Christy, liaison to the Animal Shelter is also recommending that potential adopters come and check out the animals before the big adoption day.

“To ensure you find a pet that fits your lifestyle and will serve as your perfect companion, we encourage you to visit the Gloucester County Animal Shelter before the event to see all the animals available for adoption.”

Get a pre-adoption application or call 856-881-2828 ext. 1 for details.

More construction is coming to Center City and it could affect your commute around the city, no matter which form of transportation you rely on.

Starting the morning of Monday, August 21, Schuylkill Avenue between Walnut and Chestnut Streets near 30th Street Station will be closed for approximately five months. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians will be detoured while the construction is going on.

In addition, the on-and-off-ramps at the I-76 Interchange between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street will be restricted to a single lane and there will be nighttime and weekend full closures of the ramps during construction.

PennDOT announced the closures ahead of the rehabilitation project for the structure over the Schuylkill Expressway. The latest construction comes as part of a major project to enhance the Chestnut Street Bridge over the Schuylkill River and other structures in the area.

The sidewalk on the east side of Schuylkill Avenue will also be closed to pedestrians, as well as crosswalks in the area. The Schuylkill river trail below Chestnut Street will also close in the winter for approximately three months. 

Officials are advising motorists to allow extra time when traveling near the work zone because slowdowns will occur.

In addition to the repairs along Chestnut Street and Schuylkill Avenue, the $103 Million revitalization project has a list of other tasks across the city:

• Rehabilitating two structures on the I-76 ramps between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street;

• Resurfacing Chestnut Street from 31st Street to 30th Street, and from 24th Street to 23rd Street;

• Constructing wider sidewalks and installing decorative barrier and railings on the Chestnut Street and Schuylkill Avenue bridges;

• Rehabilitating a 900-foot section of the river wall structure between I-76 and the Schuylkill River from Market Street and Walnut Street;

• Rehabilitating a 15-foot section of the retaining wall supporting the Schuylkill River Trail under Chestnut Street;

• Installing new traffic signals, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) equipment, and street lighting along Chestnut Street between 31st Street and 23rd Street;

• Replacing millennium lighting on Chestnut Street over the Schuylkill River;

• Constructing a new trellis at the Chestnut Street Trailhead to the Schuylkill River Trail;

• Restriping pavement markings for a bicycle lane on Chestnut Street between 34th Street and 22nd Street; and

• Installing a new clear acrylic barrier along Amtrak Northeast Corridor tracks located on the west side of Schuylkill Avenue West between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street.

The entire project is scheduled to finish in the fall of 2020.

The structures on Chestnut Street were constructed between 1864 and 1960 and carry an average of 18,300 vehicles per day. The bridges on Schuylkill Avenue West were built in the late 1950’s and carry an estimated 8,600 vehicles per day.

A SWAT team searched a Northeast Philadelphia Target Friday afternoon after a man was shot outside the store, police said.

The shooting happened at 3:30 p.m. in front of the Target at Bustleton and Bleigh avenues across from the Roosevelt Mall, police said.

The victim was rushed to Aria Torresdale in serious condition.

A suspected shooter was apprehended outside the store, but police believed a second gunman may have run inside the department store.

Philadelphia police called in the SWAT team to search the store and clear any occupants inside.

Around an hour later, the store was cleared and lockdown lifted. Police could be seen collecting information from customers who were at the store when the shooting happened and then escorting them to their cars.

It's currently unclear what sparked the shooting.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Philadelphia police have released the photo of a person of interest in a hit-and-run in Center City over the weekend that took a woman's life.

Ann Broderick died along the 1300 block of Race Street early Sunday after being hit by a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, police said. The 53-year-old woman was living on the streets after hitting a rough patch, friends told NBC10.

On Friday, police with the Accident Investigation Division released a photo of a man they believe could have been driving the SUV. They also shared a clearer photo of vehicles.

Police said the SUV has been customized with a lifted frame, large black tires and fenders. There may not be visible damage from the crash because of the vehicle's height, police said.

Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying the man and spotting the SUV. Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS.

The land of Cherokee Day Camp has been sold after concerns over management and supervision at the camp. NBC10's George Spencer has the story, including what some parents say were their biggest concerns.

Paramedics in Camden said Wednesday morning was one of the worst mornings they've ever seen after they saved sixteen people who overdosed. NBC10's Cydney Long spoke to those paramedics just one day after President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency.

Some heavy rain is expected to hit our region on Saturday, but the storms should clear by Sunday. NBC10 meteorologist Erika Martin has the details.

Jackson Mitchell may only be 4-years-old, but that's not stopping him from becoming a firefighter! Mitchell has a degenerative disease that is stealing his eyesight, but the Wildwood Fire Department stepped in to make his day on Friday.

A man is dead after a harrowing gun struggle with officers during his arrest in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.

The 31-year-old man was confronted by police as they responded to a report of a car theft in progress along N. Darien Street at Allegheny Avenue at 5:15 p.m., police said.

Officers found the man in the driver's seat of a car and a woman who said he was trying to steal it.

As he was being placed in handcuffs, police said the man grabbed the officer's gun. A struggle between the officer and man ensued as he tried to unlatch the handgun from its holster on the officer's belt, police said.

Failing to get the first officer's gun, the man then tried to grab the gun of a second officer who joined the struggle, police said.

Police eventually broke free from the man and opened fire on him. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his left side, police said.

The man was taken to Temple University Hospital but later died from his injuries. It wasn't clear if the suspect was armed.

You may know Tony Luke from his famous cheesesteaks and hoagies, but now he's is using his voice for another reason: to fight the stigma of addiction. Luke lost his son, Anthony Lucidonio III, to an overdose earlier this year.

The paramedics were injecting naloxone into two people at a time.

It was 6 a.m. Wednesday on the streets of Camden, New Jersey and Death was attempting to claim 16 victims of the opioid crisis.

"We would get dispatched to a location and find two patients overdosed," Cooper EMS Chief Steve Hale said.

Hale's team typically sees nine drug overdoses in a day. Sixteen in just a little more than an hour stretched them to the limit.

He said the spike came from a bad batch of drugs given out by dealers during a so-called "free giveaway day."

Dealers will sometimes hand out free samples of heroin to drum up support for their product.

Drug users that NBC10 spoke with for our award-winning special report Generation Addicted about the heroin and opioid crisis explained how they would get up early in the morning and run to a corner where a dealer would throw free dime bags to the ground.

"If they give it free, people get hooked," Hale said.

None of the patients who overdosed Wednesday morning died thanks to the medics' efforts, but the chief worries that could change as the opioid epidemic worsens.

The Philadelphia region has some of the strongest and purest heroin in the country. It's also some of the cheapest. The infiltration of exponentially more potent opioids like fentanyl and carfentanyl has made the fight to revive people much harder.

Nadeem Ishaq, a Cooper EMS supervisor and paramedic, said more often he's had to deliver two or three doses of naloxone to reverse an overdose.

"It is worsening by the minute," he said.

For all of 2016, Cooper EMS administered 950 doses of naloxone, known by its brand name, Narcan. It helps block the drug's effects so that a person can begin breathing normally again. So far this year, they have used 1,050 doses with four months until the year's up.

"It's crushing us," Hale said. "The overdose patients and the volume of Narcan we're giving."

Across the river in Philadelphia, drug overdose is now a leading cause of death — claiming more lives last year than stroke and respiratory disease.

Nationally, 142 people die each day from drug overdose. A presidential commission on the opioid epidemic equated the death toll in more jarring terms: "America is enduring a death toll equal to Sept. 11th every three weeks," an excerpt from an interim report read.

The grim statistics prompted President Donald Trump on Thursday to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency. The proclaiment allows the White House to direct funds more pointedly toward treatment programs and waive some federal rules, experts say.

The declaration is welcome news to first responders like Hale and Ishaq on the front lines of the crisis. But advocates like Daniel Raymond from the Harm Reduction Coalition worries meaningful action won't come to fruition.

“Words need to be accompanied by actions. After 200 days into the Trump Administration, we have yet to see a clear and consistent strategy emerge," Raymond said in a statement.

The coalition is calling for keeping Medicaid and Medicare in tact, rejecting a crime-driven "War on Drugs" and supporting of harm reduction and recovery efforts.

Their son was shot in a drive-by shooting, paralyzed at the young age of 6. Now, this family is asking for the public's help so they can properly care for their son.

JaShown Banner and his mom were driving through Wilmington, Delaware on June 6^th when a gunman opened fire on a pedestrian on the street. He used the family's car as a shield; the boy and his mom caught in the crossfire.

"He was on his way back to come visit me," JaShown’s father, Joshua Potts, said. “Later I get a call, ‘your son’s been shot,’ and I just dropped everything. My whole world just started spinning."

A bullet pierced JaShown's face and became lodged in his spine. The injury leaving him paralyzed and in need of constant medical care.

Now, as JaShown continues to fight, his parents are asking for the public’s help in getting the boy all of the equipment he needs — including a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

The family has created a GoFundMe page to collect donations and they’ve also started selling T-shirts to help with costs. Doctors say JaShown will eventually go home, but he may never recognize his family.

“With God’s hands, anything is possible,” Potts said.

To order a shirt, you can email FightLjFight@gmail.com.

NBC10's Rosemary Connors sat down with Delaware Senator Chris Coons to talk about President Trump's warning to North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and the consequences that he would face if he takes action against the United States.

After being abandoned, then giving birth to a miracle puppy, one Pit Bull Terrier is ready to find her forever family.

When rescuers found Layla, a one-year-old Pit Bull Terrier, wandering the streets of Conestoga, Chester County, they could immediately tell the dog was just days away from giving birth.

Layla was taken to the Humane League of Lancaster County, where the Terrier remained fearful and nervous.

“She had been down in the kennels, but because of how loud it was she was very scared,” said Ellie Scheurich, an animal care technician.

After nine days, Layla went into labor, but immediately started experiencing complications.

“I sat on the floor with Layla,” Scheurich said. “She had already been through so much in her young life, and we were hoping we weren’t too late to save this sweet dog.”

After being rushed into an emergency C-section, Layla delivered seven puppies. Only two survived the C-section, but one passed the next morning leaving Layla with one miracle puppy to care for. The puppy, named Leroy, soon found his forever home.

But now Layla wants her forever home, too.

"Layla continues to open up to all of us," Scheurich said.

"She is still shy around strangers and puts up a tough front, but once she gets to know you she will be the most faithful companion to anyone who is deserving of her love and devotion."

Applications to adopt Layla can be found on the Human Pennsylvania website and can be emailed to Aida May, the Animal Care Coordinator, at amay@humanepa.org.

The Centers for Disease Control has expanded an investigation into papayas that have caused almost 150 cases of salmonella poisoning.

Forty-five people have been hospitalized and one person from New York City has died. There have been reports of salmonella across 19 different states, most recently in Illinois, Ohio and Texas.

Laboratory tests indicate that Maradol papayas from the Carica de Campeche farm in Mexico are the likely source of the multi-state outbreak.

Three papaya brands, Caribeña, Cavi, and Valery, from Mexico have been identified as those produced by this farm.

The CDC recommends that these papayas are not eaten, served or sold.

The Caribeña papayas were recalled on July 26, and can be identified by a red, green and yellow sticker. The Cavi papayas were recalled by the company on Aug. 5, and can be identified by a purple, green and black sticker with the words "Cavi MEXICO 4395" in white. The Valley brand papayas were recalled on Aug. 7, and can be identified by a red, yellow and green sticker with "Valery" in yellow letters.

The 19 impacted states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

A New Jersey funeral home owner's explicitly titled essay about the overwhelming number of deaths he's seeing due to opioid overdoses and the havoc the drug epidemic is wreaking on families is resonating powerfully with people in the community.  

In a blog post titled "F**k You, Opioids," Peter Kulbacki, the owner of the Brunswick Memorial Home, writes about how he's personally seen the devastating effects of addiction. It's been shared on Facebook nearly 500 times in three days. 

"Every month we get overdose calls, and from personal experience I'm telling you it's truly getting worse," he writes. "Middlesex County is ranked one of the top 4 counties in New Jersey for opioid overdoses. I speak to local police officers who are issued 2 doses of Narcan at the beginning of their shifts, and have to come back to the station before their shift is over because they've already used the initial 2 doses. True story."

He continues: 

I am witness to the parents left with inexplicable grief. I am witness to the spouses left to carry the emotional and economic burden of raising a family alone. I am witness to the children who are left wondering, 'Why?'" 

I see the emotional devastation left behind. I am pained to hear these tragic stories. The failed stints in rehab. The relapses. The torn and wrecked families. I’m distressed to walk family and friends to a casket containing the broken dreams of a life lost. I’m tired of getting calls from people I personally know telling me their son or daughter was found somewhere having OD’d.

I know addiction is a disease. It doesn’t respect title, your station in life, your socioeconomic status, or anything else. Trust me… I’ve seen it all. F**K you opioids.

Local residents responded instantly to the searing essay, relating their own experiences with the epidemic. On the funeral home's Facebook page, the post took off and was shared hundreds of times. 

"Peter, well said. But how do we go on after losing someone who was loved by  so many?" Bernadette Rosenberger wrote. "Losing my son to this horrible addiction. Watching his brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmother, nieces and all the other family and friends struggle with the loss of losing him... it changes not only the addict's life but everyone else who knew him. I pray every night for a cure... God bless from a forever broken mom." 

Others wrote of similar tragedies and the aftermath of dealing with their losses.

Kulbacki told News 4, "I've been doing this a long time. Five or six years ago, we have seen done five or six deaths a year [from opioid overdose]. Now, in the last two or three years, we're doing two, three a month, sometimes more." 

"When my phone rings, I never know what's on the other end -- but we are increasingly seeing opioid related deaths, whether the death certificate says it or not," he added, noting that some deaths classified as suicides often have complicated back stories that involve addiction. 

New Jersey's drug crisis is so pronounced that Gov. Chris Christie has vowed to make it the focus of his last year in office. 

Nearly 1,600 people in New Jersey died from drug overdoses in 2015, an increase of about 20 percent over 2014, according to data from the state medical examiner's office. Most of those came from opioids, including heroin and fentanyl.

The tri-state at large has been dealing with an alarming spike in overdose deaths: on Wednesday, the Staten Island district attorney said 13 people there died of overdoses in the last three weeks. New York City saw an all-time high of 1,374 overdose deaths in 2016 -- a 46-percent increase of 2015, according to NYC health data.