Toms River Man Who Fled Route 70 Crash Arrested In Court: Police

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Toms River man whose license was suspended fled the scene of a three-vehicle accident that injured two people after his car hit another head-on on Route 70 in Manchester on Wednesday, police said Thursday.

James J. Stanley, 45, of Toms River, is being held at the Ocean County jail, following his arrest Wednesday afternoon when he appeared in Manchester Township Municipal Court on an unrelated matter, Manchester Lt. Vincent Manco said.

Daniel Krier, 30, of Cedarville, was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with head and leg injuries, and Adalberto Torres, 78, of Perth Amboy was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River for chest pain and possible internal injuries following the crash, Manco said.

The crash, which happened about 9:45 a.m., occurred when Stanley, who was driving west on Route 70 in a white 2012 Ford Fusion when he crossed the center line into the path of a gray 2018 Honda Civic driven y Krier and hit it head-on, Manco said. The impact caused the Civic to then go into the westbound lane of Route 70 where it hit a 2010 Toyota Rav 4 driven by Torres head on, he said.

The Fusion came to a rest in the eastbound lane of Route 70, Manco said, and witnesses told police they saw the driver, later identified as Stanley, get out of the Fusion and into another car that had been passing through immediately after the crash and leave the area. Police determined Stanley was the driver of the Fusion during the crash investigation, he said.

While authorities were investigating and cleaning up the scene of the crash, which shut down Route 70 in the area for more than 5 hours, Stanley appeared at the Manchester Township Municipal Court in an unrelated matter just a couple hours later, Manco, and was arrested.

He is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, and operating a vehicle involved in a crash involving serious bodily injury during a period of license suspension.

Assisting were members of the Manchester Township Police Investigations and Patrol Bureaus, the Manchester Volunteer Fire Department, EMTs from Quality Medical Transport and paramedics from MONOC. Members of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit and Officers from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit were also on scene. The New Jersey State Police and the NJDOT Emergency Response Team assisted with the traffic diversion during the road closure.

The crash remains under investigation by Patrolmen Thomas O’Hare, Michael Anderson, Michael O’Hara, and Sgt. Antonio Ellis, he said.

Photos provided by Manchester Township Police