Drunk Driver Hit Man In New Brunswick, Police Say

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A 25-year-old man was hit by a drunk driver late Sunday night in New Brunswick, who fled the scene but has since been arrested, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and New Brunswick Police Chief Vincent Sabo.

The young man was hit by the car at 1:24 a.m. Monday on the 100 block of Jersey Avenue. Police were called there for a report of a pedestrian hit and run. Upon arrival, police located the young man, who was seriously injured. (He is not a Rutgers student.)

He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he remains in critical condition Monday afternoon.

Police say a sedan driven by Abel Bustos-Medel, 31, of New Brunswick, struck the young man on Jersey Avenue and then fled the scene. The sedan was later observed on Livingston Avenue with damage consistent with a pedestrian crash.

Bustos-Medel was arrested and charged with third-degree assault by auto, third-degree leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury, and driving under the influence.

Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Officer Mark Smith of the New Brunswick Police Department at 732-745-5005 or Sergeant Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-4328.

Officer Smith and Sgt. Berman are lead detectives on this case.