Car Accident Kills Homeless Man Once Paid To Dump Coffee On His Head

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Ron Leggatt, a former harness racing driver who became homeless found himself in a media spotlight after a man paid him $5 to dump a cup of coffee on himself on a snowy January day in 2016 has died in a car accident, Lakewood police confirmed Sunday evening.

Leggatt, 67, was killed Friday night when he was struck by a car while walking along Cedar Bridge Avenue, Lakewood Detective Lt. Gregory Staffordsmith confirmed.

The accident happened about 11 p.m., Staffordsmith said. Leggatt was hit by a 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche driven by a 36-year-old Jackson man on Cedar Bridge Avenue about 100 feet west of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, Staffordsmith said. The driver stayed at the scene and called 911, he said.

Leggatt drew worldwide attention in January 2016 after an Orthodox Jewish man paid Leggatt $5 to pour the coffee on his head while the other man took video of the prank. The incident was witnessed by Carlos Mejia, who confronted the man and then posted about the incident on Facebook, expressing his anger over the way Leggatt was treated.

The incident was investigated by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and provoked outrage both locally and beyond, and led to members of the Orthodox community stepping in to help provide for temporary housing for Leggatt, who was living in a baseball field dugout on Cedar Bridge Avenue at the time of the incident at the Singin gas station at Central Avenue.

It also got the attention of the San Francisco 49ers, who took note of the worn 49ers jacket he was wearing and sent Leggatt a new coat plus other 49ers gear.

Leggatt, who suffered serious injuries as a harness driver that led to memory issues and his eventual homelessness, was one of the residents of Lakewood's Tent City who was displaced when the encampment was razed in 2014. Temporary housing assistance ran out, and he wound up on the streets.

Steve Brigham, known to most as Minister Steve and who devotes much of his time to assisting the homeless in Ocean and Monmouth counties and who fought to protect Tent City, told NJ.com that Leggatthad been living at the Lexington Manor on 7th Street, which houses about 200 residents who suffer from various degrees of mental illness.

Mejia posted a message in Spanish on Facebook noting Leggatt's death, saying "R.I.P my friend Ron!!! One of the most real people I met."

He shared photos of Leggatt in his new San Francisco 49ers jacket, sporting new glasses and a haircut provided by members of the community who stepped up to help him.

Another friend, Cindy Lanouette, posted publicly on Facebook about Leggatt's death and included a photo of a smiling Leggatt:

"We will miss Ron's smiling face. Ron was a man who could make the most of any uncomfortable situation, and remain cheerful through it all. Through the most trying hardships of his life, Ron was a man of positive spirits, and demeanor. Indeed a charming, and jolly man."

"Ron was loved by many, and will be missed by many. Lakewood NJ will never be the same."

Photo of Ron Leggatt by Carlos Mejia, used with permission