TOMS RIVER, N.J. – Authorities say a New Jersey police officer headed home after work was killed when a drunken driver crashed into his vehicle on the Garden State Parkway.
Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford says a car driven by 32-year-old Officer Jason Marles was rear-ended by a BMW early Thursday. Marles' car spun, hit a guardrail and overturned before striking a tree and bursting into flames.
Marles was pronounced dead at the scene. He was still in uniform.
The BMW driver, 31-year-old Erick P. Uzcategui of Manchester Township, was charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving. He was held on $250,000 bail. A telephone listing for him could not be found, and police did not know if he had an attorney.
Marles was a married father of two children.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
