A Morris County 18-year-old has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash that killed a woman and left a man critically injured on Saturday in Toms River, authorities said.
Abel Mathukutty, of 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 a statement issued by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Authorities said that Toms River police responded at 7:25 p.m. Saturday to the area of Route 37 east for a report of a crash.
Police found that a Mercedes sedan occupied by a woman who was the driver and a man who was a passenger had crashed into a utility pole.
Both suffered serious injuries and were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River.
The woman died at the hospital, the prosecutor’s office said.
The man was later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he is listed in critical condition.
The names of the woman and her passenger were not released.
An investigation revealed that an Infiniti sedan struck the Mercedes on the driver’s side, causing the Mercedes to crash into the utility pole, the prosecutor’s office said.
The Infiniti fled the scene and continued east, traveling over the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge, officials said. A description of the vehicle was broadcast to surrounding towns
At approximately 8 p.m., officers from the Seaside Park Police Department stopped a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle.
Officers reported that the vehicle had sustained heavy passenger side damage and that its airbags were deployed.
Investigators said the vehicle was the same one involved in the earlier crash, and that Mathukutty was driving it at the time of the crash.
Mathukutty was taken into custody at the scene and transported to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River where he was placed pending a detention hearing.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Toms River Township Police Department, Seaside Park Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated the crash.
Stories by Stephanie Loder
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Stephanie Loder may be reached at SLoder@njadvancemedia.com.