Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Detective Still in Critical Condition After Accident Last Week

by Patricia A. Miller

An Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office detective remains in critical condition with severe head injuries after an accident on Dover Road in the Bamber Lakes section of Lacey Township last week, spokesperson Al Della Fave said.

Detective Scott Stevens, 44, was driving eastbound on Dover Road at 10:53 a.m. on Jan. 8 when he lost control of the 2004 Honda he was driving, crossed over into the westbound lane and struck a tree, Della Fave said.

Stevens - an undercover officer - is in an induced coma because of the extent of the injuries, he said.

“It’s a very severe head injury,” Della Fave said.

Stevens - a undercover member of the Special Operations Group - is a 15-year-veteran of the Prosecutor’s Office, he said.

Lacey Township police responded to the one-car accident, approximately two miles north of Lacey Road in the Bamber Lakes section. The car was found in the woods off the shoulder of the roadway, Della Fave said.

Stevens had to be extricated from the car. He was then airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but the Prosecutor’s Office is hampered because they have been unable to interview him because of his condition, Della Fave said.

“There were no witnesses,” he said. ”We can’t interview him. An animal may have run out. It could have been mechanical.”

Dover Road was closed to traffic from Pinewald-Keswick Road to the accident scene for most of the day.

Lacey resident Flinchbaugh, 23, a freelance photographer for The Lacey Reporter, was charged with obstructing administration of law, which is a disorderly persons offense, according to the Asbury Park Press.

He filmed the portions of the accident scene and the airlift. He was taken into custody after a detective ordered him to turn over the camera so the Prosecutor’s Office could review the video as potential evidence into the crash investigation, the story states.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said Saturday that the charge has been dropped and added that his office ”could have handled this better,” according to the Asbury Park Press story.

Responding agencies included the Lacey Township Accident Investigation Unit, Berkeley Township Police Department, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean County Criminal Investigation Unit, Lacey Township First Aid Squad, Bamber Lake Fire Company, and Forked River Fire Company.