Man Charged In Road Rage Hit-And-Run In Brick: Police

BRICK, NJ — A Lacey Township man was charged with hitting a Brick Township man with his car following a road rage incident on Tuesday morning, Brick Township police said.

Michael Patrick O’Hare Jr., 29, of the Lanoka Harbor section of Lacey, was arrested Wednesday, police said, and charged with aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

The incident happened shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, when police said they were called to the parking lot of the Stop 'n' Shop at 55 Brick Boulevard for a pedestrian who had been hit by a car.

The victim, Earl Creveling, 43, of Brick, told police he had been involved in a road rage incident on Old Hooper Avenue with a man who was driving an older model Volvo, police said. Creveling told police both vehicles pulled into Bay Harbor Plaza, where an altercation took place. While Creveling was attempting to get the license plate number of the Volvo, the driver — now identified as O'Hare — accelerated toward Creveling, hitting him and causing Creveling to hit the car's windshield. He then landed on the pavement, police said. Creveling was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of internal injuries.

Police said the driver of the Volvo fled, driving north on Brick Boulevard.

After issuing a news release on social media, the police department began receiving tips about possible suspect vehicles. Officers that followed up on the tips found the Volvo in the area of Peter Place/Donald Street in Brick, police said.

After detective Brad Frank of the Ocean County prosecutor’s office and patrolman Jay Lampiasi of the Brick Police Traffic Safety Unit interviewed O’Hare about his involvement in the incident, police said, they charged him with aggravated assault and leaving the accident scene. O’Hare was also wanted out of Bloomfield Municipal Court on an outstanding warrant. He was being held in the Ocean County Jail as of Wednesday evening, according to online jail records.

The accident remains under investigation by Lampiasi and Frank. Police asked anyone with any further information about this incident to contact Lampiasi of the Brick police at 732-262-1141. Additional charges are pending further investigation.

The Brick police department would like to thank the public for their assistance in identifying the suspect vehicle that was involved in this crash.

Michael Patrick O'Hare photo via Ocean County Corrections Department