Hit-and-Run Driver Arrested; 17-Year-Old Victim Remains in Critical Condition

Toms River Police have arrested Craig Terlizzi, 40, of 1212 Sawmill Avenue as the driver who struck a 17-year-old Newtown, Pa., boy who was walking along Route 35 North in the Normandy Beach section of Toms River around 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

Terlizzi was charged with numerous vehicle violations after an investigation of the incident by members of the Toms River Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Terlizzi is being held on $50,000 bail for a criminal count of endangering and numerous motor vehicle charges including leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, and reckless driving signed by Traffic Safety Officer Gary Flynn.

Terlizzi told police he was driving a friend's 2011 Lexus on Friday night.

The suspect vehicle was located by Mantoloking Police, parked on Downer Avenue before midnight.

Police were searching for a black car missing its front fender heading north on Route 35 toward Point Pleasant.

Kevin O'Brien, 17,  was walking south on the east side of Route 35 northbound near Silver Beach Road, Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said, returning with friends after getting ice cream. 

"According to witnesses and two Massachusetts teenagers he was walking with, the victim was struck by a black sports car that was northbound and traveled onto the shoulder of the road.  The suspect vehicle then immediately speed off northbound," said Mastronardy in an email.

O'Brien was vacationing at a home nearby.   

The victim was transported by Dover-Brick First Aid Squad to Jersey Shore University Medical Center's Trauma Center in Neptune and remained in critical condition on Saturday, Mastronardy said.

O'Brien has had surgery for a leg and head injury, according to police.

The incident occurred near the Silver Beach section of Normandy Beach, an area with a private beach association and a pocket of small stores and restaurants on the barrier island.

The speed limit in that area of the state highway Route 35 changes from 35 mph to 40 mph on the two-lane road.

Police put out an all-points bulletin for the vehicle, based on eyewitness reports.

Witnesses told police the car kept going on Route 35 North, heading toward Point Pleasant Beach.  Route 35 runs through the barrier island as a divided highway.

Police departments north of the hit-and-run scene were quickly alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle.

Area police departments, both north and south of the accident scene, were still putting out the hit-and-run information at 10:15 p.m. on Friday, some with new information as it became available.

Traffic is slowed from parts south of the incident in the northbound lanes of Route 35 as police respond.

Initially, EMS had requested a medevac fly to its location, but it was later canceled. 

Investigating the accident were Traffic Safety Officers Brian Doyle, Cpl. Gary Flynn and Lt. Michael Brosnan.

Assisting were the Ocean County Prosecutors Office, The Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, the Brick and Mantoloking Police Departments and the Ocean Beach Fire Company.

The investigation is ongoing, according to police.