At approximately 2:25 a.m. Shabbos morning, police responded to the area of James Street in Lakewood for a report of a serious motor vehicle crash. Responding Officers found that a 2007 Honda Civic had struck a utility pole.
Officers also discovered that the driver of the vehicle had fled the scene of the crash, and located a critically injured male victim in the passenger seat of the vehicle. The male victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit and Lakewood Township Police Department Detective Bureau revealed that the Honda Civic was traveling westbound on James Street when it lost directional control and struck the utility pole on the passenger side door.
The investigation further revealed that Angel Garcia-Rodriguez, a 26-year-old Lakewood resident, was the operator of the vehicle at the time of the crash, and that he had fled the scene before police arrived. Garcia-Rodriguez was ultimately located at a residence in Lakewood and taken into custody without incident. He was thereafter transported to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, where a court authorized sample of his blood was taken. Garcia-Rodriguez was then transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is currently lodged pending a detention hearing.