Hasbrouck Heights Man Charged In Hit-And-Run, 11-Year-Old Boy Injured In Seaside Heights

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — A North Jersey man has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run that left an 11-year-old boy seriously injured Friday night in Seaside Heights, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday.

Giancarlos Fernandez, 19, of Hasbrouck Heights, has been charged with assault by auto and knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash with serious injuries, in connection with hitting the boy, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

The boy was riding a bicycle near Barnegat Avenue and Freemont Avenue about 6:50 p.m. when he was hit by a 2012 Infiniti G37, Billhimer said.

Fernandez was driving the Infiniti west on Freemont "at a high rate of speed" when he hit the boy, the prosecutor said. The force of the impact caused the boy to become embedded in the windshield, but he was eventually thrown to the pavement, Billhimer said.

The boy was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he is currently listed in stable condition, the prosecutor said.

After the crash Fernandez got out of the car and tried to run but was caught by Seaside Heights detectives a few blocks away, Billhimer said.

Once he was apprehended, Seaside Heights police "administered standardized field sobriety tests to Fernandez," who was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River and authorities obtained a warrant to draw his blood for analysis, Billhimer said.

Fernandez is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

The Seaside Heights Police Department and its detective bureau, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated.