SPARTA -- A 50-year-old woman is facing charges of vehicular homicide and DWI for allegedly causing a fatal wrong-way crash on Route 15 Tuesday night.

Teresa Verbout, of Sparta, was heading northbound on Route 15 south in her 2014 Jeep Cherokee at about 11:06 p.m. when she nearly struck a police officer's vehicle, police said in a news release.

The officer, Cpl. Adam Carbery, took evasive action and avoided crashing into the Jeep, police said. He then turned around into the northbound lanes in order to pursue the vehicle and try to stop it, police said.

Verbout's Jeep continued traveling the wrong way in the southbound lanes, and, before police could catch up, her Jeep struck a 1998 Toyota Corolla head-on, police said.

The driver of the Toyota -- Robert J. Hunter III, 22, of the Flanders section of Mount Olive -- was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Verbout was flown to Morristown Medical Center after suffering serious injuries to her legs, police said. She's been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and with driving while intoxicated.

Route 15 south was closed early Wednesday morning while authorities investigated the crash.

Sparta police were assisted by the State Police, the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office and the Medical Examiner's Office.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.