Child 'Critical' After Hit-And-Run Crash In Ocean County, Man Charged, Prosecutor Says

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A Jackson Township man has been charged following a hit-and-run crash that left a child in critical condition, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Jose Perez-Parada, 35, has been charged with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in serious bodily injuries in the crash that happened in Lakewood, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

The child was hit about 8:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Hope Chapel Road and Hope Hill Lane in Lakewood, the prosecutor's office said. They did not release the boy's age.

The boy was hit by a Hyundai Elantra that was going north on Hope Chapel Road, the prosecutor's office said. After it hit the child, the driver of the Hyundai — later identified as Perez-Parada — took off, authorities said.

The boy was listed in critical but stable condition at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, the prosecutor's office said.

Perez-Parada was arrested at Lakewood Township Police Headquarters and taken to the Ocean County Jail, the prosecutor's office said. He was not listed as an inmate on Monday morning.

The prosecutor's office Major Crime Unit- Vehicular Homicide Squad, Lakewood police and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated the crash.