Man Who Dragged Woman From Vehicle In Beachwood Diner's Parking Lot Sentenced

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with an attack where he dragged a woman out of her vehicle outside a diner in Beachwood in 2023, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Monday.

Dylan S. Panatero, 42, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for aggravated assault, four years for terroristic threats, seven years for robbery, and seven years for eluding by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Palmer, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The sentences are to run concurrently, Billhimer said.

He will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentences for aggravated assault and for robbery, as both are covered under the No Early Release Act, the prosecutor said.

Panatero pleaded guilty to the charges, which included an incident in August 2022 and Panatero's arrest after fleeing a motor vehicle stop in November 2023, on Dec. 16 before Palmer, he said.

Panatero was arrested on Aug. 8, 2022, after he threatened a woman at her home in Toms River. Toms River police responded to a report of an assault and learned Panatero had threatened the woman and then left the house. Panatero was arrested at a Beachwood home later that day and later released under New Jersey Bail Reform, Billhimer said.

On Nov. 2, 2023, Panatero met with a woman he knew in the parking lot at the Sandcastle Diner on Route 9 in Beachwood, authorities said. He pulled the woman out of her car and then tried to drive away in her vehicle, dragging the woman alongside, Beachwood police said. The woman suffered cuts and abrasions on her arms and legs while Panatero took off in her car, authorities said.

He was charged with carjacking, burglary, theft, unlawful taking of a means of conveyance, and two counts of aggravated assault, and an arrest warrant was issued and his name was entered in the National Crime Information Center database, authorities said.

Six days later, on Nov. 8, 2023, Panatero was arrested following a police chase in Toms River.

Toms River Police Officer Michael Weg was on patrol about 11 p.m. and saw a vehicle at a Route 37 traffic signal that had been reported stolen in Bridgewater. The driver — later identified as Panatero — pulled into a parking lot and Weg pulled in behind him, turned on his overhead lights and tried to approach the vehicle, but Panatero pulled out of the parking spot and took off.

Weg gave chase as Panatero took off at high speed, driving recklessly, authorities said. Panatero made an illegal left turn onto Fischer Boulevard and kept going north at speeds exceeding 90 mph, the prosecutor's office said.

At the intersection of Fischer Boulevard and Yellowbank Road, Panatero ran a red light and hit another vehicle, disabling both, authorities said. They approached the vehicle Panatero was in and arrested him; he was treated at Community Medical Center and has been held in the Ocean County Jail since then.

The driver of the second vehicle was treated on the scene for his injuries and refused further medical treatment, authorities said.

The stolen vehicle was impounded and the owner was notified.