Passenger Killed As Driver Eluded Police In Somerset County Identified

The deceased passenger of an 18-year-old Brooklyn man who faces multiple charges after he crashed his car in attempts to flee from Bernards Township Police has been identified.

William Hawkins, 19, of Dumont Avenue in Brooklyn was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene last week, according to nj.com.

Shern Noel, of Pulaski Street, is charged with Death By Vehicular Homicide, Knowingly Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting in Death, Eluding, Aggravated Assault, and Endangering an Injured Victim.

It was around 8:57 p.m. when a Bernards Township patrol officer noticed a 2013 Honda Accord with tinted windows parked in a Martinsville Road gas station with an expired New York registration.

The officer followed the driver, Noel, as he exited the parking lot.

“Once on Valley Road, the officer activated his emergency lights in an attempt to effectuate a motor vehicle stop of the vehicle and it’s two occupants,” according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. “As the patrol unit approached the vehicle defendant Noel accelerated and fled the area.”

Additional patrol units were dispatched to canvas the area for the vehicle, which was found moment later parked in a cul-de-sac with the lights off. Once spotted, Noel fled at a high speed out of the cul-de-sac and his vehicle was found minutes later, crashed, on Stonehouse Road near Columbia Road.

Noel fled the scene and was found in a wooded area by police. He was transported to an area hospital for a wrist injury.

His bail is set at $200,000 cash only.