Crime & Safety
Prosecutor: Driver Who Struck, Severely Injured Rutgers Student From Monmouth County Was Drunk
A drive who struck and severely injured a 20-year-old Rutgers student walking in New Brunswick two months ago has been charged, police say.
The driver who struck a Rutgers student in October, causing severe injuries, has been charged with DWI, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Anthony A. Caputo, director of the New Brunswick Police department, announced Monday.
Michael Schenck, age 30 and from the Somerset section of Franklin Township, has been charged with causing a drunk-driving injury to 20-year-old Holmdel resident Timothy McDonnell as he walked in New Brunswick on October 4.
Schenck was charged on December 15 with aggravated assault, assault by auto and driving while intoxicated, Prosecutor Carey announced.
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Schenck surrendered at New Brunswick police headquarters and was released after he posted $50,000 bail.
He was charged after a two-month investigation by Officer Patrick Buckelew of the New Brunswick Police Department and Detective Gregory Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
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The investigation showed that the defendant was intoxicated when he drove his 2007 Audi on Easton Avenue and struck McDonnell, who was crossing Easton Avenue at the Mine Street intersection during the early morning hours.
McDonnell was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was treated for severe injuries. He since has been transferred to the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in West Orange, where he has continued to undergo treatments and procedures for his injuries, according to the Prayers For Timothy McDonnell Facebook page.
The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Buckelew of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5200, or Detective Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-4054.
As is the case with all criminal defendants, the charges against Schenck are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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