Fatal Hit-And-Run in Ocean County: Teen Arrested, Investigation Ongoing

Teen Charged After Fatal Hit-And-Run
on Route 37 in Toms River

According to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office a teen from Morris County has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Route 37 in Toms River on Saturday night that left one person dead and another gravely injured.

In the collision that occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m., Abel Mathukutty, 18, of Lake Hiawatha, was charged with both leaving the scene of a motor vehicle incident that caused death and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash that caused serious bodily injury, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.

The collision occurred on Route 37's eastbound lanes entering Seaside Heights, immediately west of the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge.

According to the prosecutor's office, the inquiry revealed that Mathukutty struck the driver's side of a Mercedes sedan while operating an Infiniti sedan. Mathukutty then took off across the bridge into Seaside Heights after the Mercedes struck a utility pole, according to investigators.

The driver of the Mercedes passed away from her wounds after being transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River with the male passenger, who was also seriously injured.

The male passenger was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune on Sunday and was listed in critical condition.

Around 8 p.m., Seaside Park police officers stopped a car that fit the description of the Infiniti after it was broadcast to other communities.

According to the prosecutor's office, Seaside Park police concluded that the Infiniti was the vehicle involved in the Route 37 collision after observing that the car had significant passenger side damage and that the airbags had deployed. Mathukutty was apprehended without incident and transferred to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, where he is being kept until a detention hearing.