A Drunken Crash Killed Howell Man's Friend; Now He's Headed To Prison

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Howell Township man has been sentenced to three years in prison in a UTV crash at the Heritage Minerals site in Manchester that killed his friend in 2020, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Stephen J. McGuire, 48, was sentenced on Friday by Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch to three years in state prison for his guilty plea to strict liability vehicular homicide in the Dec. 12, 2020, crash into the lake at Heritage Minerals that killed James Grover, 62, also of Howell. McGuire also was sentenced to three years for endangering the welfare of a child, with the sentences to run concurrently, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

The sentences were the result of a plea agreement reached in November that Billhimer said was with extensive discussions with Grover's family.

Grover's family "expressed an unequivocal desire to extend mercy to this defendant," Billhimer said Friday. "Their compassionate and forgiving nature brings this very difficult chapter to a close and permits the healing process to begin; we hope this resolution provides Mr. Grover’s family with some level of peace."

McGuire was driving a UTV — utility terrain vehicle — along with a group of people at the Heritage Minerals site off Route 70 in Manchester about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2020, with Grover and three children as his passengers when McGuire crashed into Crystal Lake at the center of the site, authorities said.

McGuire and the three children escaped, but Grover remained under water with the UTV, which was submerged in about 25 feet of water, authorities said. Members of the group and the other passengers tried to find Grover, to no avail.

Manchester Township Police and members of the Manchester, Ridgeway, and Whiting Volunteer fire companies conducted an underwater dive search-and-rescue operation and found the UTV overturned with Grover still attached to it by his safety harness, authorities said.

Grover was removed from his safety harness, and life-saving measures were performed by Manchester Township Emergency Medical Technicians and Robert Wood Johnson paramedics,but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

McGuire was arrested Jan. 5, 2021, after results of a blood draw showed a blood-alcohol concentration of .127 percent following the crash, more than 50 percent above the legal limit. He was later released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.

McGuire was indicted in January 2022 on charges of vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide, along with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, authorities said at the time.

The crash happened as Manchester Township police, along with other law enforcement agencies, were battling persistent issues of trespassing at the 7,000-acre property that is privately owned. Law enforcement agencies and the property owner, Hovnanian Corporation, have taken additional steps in recent years to try to deter and prevent trespassing, issuing hundreds of tickets, confiscating ATVs and UTVs and more because of deaths at the site.

The property originally was operated by the American Smelting and Refining Company, also known as ASARCO, as a mineral mining site. It later was owned and operated by Heritage Minerals until the mining operations stopped in the early 1980s.

The property is popular with ATV riders and has been a magnet for swimmers, but has been the site of several fatalities, including swimmers lured by the water that fills the former mining pits.

The pits appear to be lakes, but they are actually filled with water from groundwater aquifers, water that is much colder than typical lakes that are stream-fed. Because they were mining pits, the shorelines and lake bottoms are not stable, and there have been multiple incidents.

“This disposition of this case was reached only after extensive discussions with the family of Mr. Grover, who expressed an unequivocal desire to extend mercy to this defendant,” Prosecutor Billhimer stated. “Their compassionate and forgiving nature brings this very difficult chapter to a close and permits the healing process to begin; we hope this resolution provides Mr. Grover’s family with some level of peace,” Prosecutor Billhimer concluded.

Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges the diligent efforts of Senior Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke handled the case on behalf of the State and commends the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Manchester Township Police Department, New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Manchester Township Volunteer Fire Company, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Whiting Volunteer Fire Company, Manchester Township Emergency Medical Services, Robert Wood Johnson Paramedics, and Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation.