An 18-year-old from Morris County faces charges for fleeing the scene of a crash that killed a woman and left a man critically injured on Saturday in Toms River, authorities reported.
Abel Mathukutty, from Lake Hiawatha, is charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing death and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing serious bodily injury, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Authorities said Toms River police responded at 7:25 p.m. Saturday to a crash report on Route 37 east.
Officers found a Mercedes sedan, driven by a woman with a male passenger, had crashed into a utility pole.
Both sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Community Medical Center in Toms River.
The woman died at the hospital, the prosecutor’s office confirmed.
The man was later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he remains in critical condition.
The identities of the woman and the passenger have not been released.
Investigators found that an Infiniti sedan struck the Mercedes on the driver’s side, causing it to crash into the utility pole.
The Infiniti fled the scene, heading east over the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge. Authorities broadcast a description of the vehicle to nearby towns.
Around 8 p.m., Seaside Park Police stopped a vehicle matching the suspect’s description.
Officers noted the vehicle had heavy passenger side damage and deployed airbags.
Investigators confirmed it was the same vehicle involved in the crash, with Mathukutty driving at the time.
Mathukutty was arrested at the scene and taken to Ocean County Jail in Toms River, awaiting a detention hearing.
The crash is being investigated by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Toms River Township Police, Seaside Park Police, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
