Man Crashes Into Pole In Brick, Injuring Passenger, Then Walks Home: Prosecutor

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township man has been arrested after he crashed his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro into a utility pole Wednesday night, injuring a friend, and took off, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

Nicholas M. Lotito, 54, was arrested as he was walking to his home from the site of the crash at the intersection of Schoener Drive and Brick Boulevard, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Lotito was driving the Camaro on Brick Boulevard when he lost control and hit the utility pole about 8 p.m., authorities said. He had two passengers, and all three left the car and walked away from the area, they said.

Officers who responded to the crash found Lotito and arrested him. He was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick for treatment of injuries resulting from the crash, authorities said.

One of his passengers was taken to Ocean University Medical Center by a friend, where the passenger was treated for injuries sustained in the crash and subsequently released, authorities said.

The remaining passenger in the vehicle was uninjured, they said.

Lotito has been charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in serious bodily injury. His blood was drawn under a court-authorized warrant as part of the crash investigation; the results of the blood draw are pending.

He is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.