Man Indicted In Fatal ATV Crash In Lake At Manchester's Heritage Minerals Site

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Howell Township man has been indicted on vehicular homicide in the fatal crash of an ATV in a lake at the Heritage Minerals site in December 2020, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

Stephen McGuire, 44, was indicted Thursday in the death of James Grover, 62, on charges of vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide, along with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the Dec. 12, 2020, crash, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Authorities say McGuire had a blood-alcohol concentration of .127 percent when after he crashed an ATV into a lake at the center of the Heritage Minerals site, with Grover and three kids as his passengers. Grover, who also was from Howell, and the ATV did not resurface, authorities said.

The other passengers and members of the group tried to find Grover but were unsuccessful. Manchester Township Police and members of the Manchester, Ridgeway, and Whiting Volunteer fire companies conducted an underwater dive search-and-rescue operation and found the ATV overturned in about 25 feet of water, with Grover still attached to it by his safety harness, authorities said.

Grover was removed from the safety harness and life-saving measures were performed by Manchester Township emergency medical technicians and Robert Wood Johnson paramedics, but Grover succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

McGuire was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River and his blood drawn after authorities obtained a search warrant, the prosecutor's office said.

The results of the blood test showed McGuire had a blood alcohol concentration of .127 percent, more than 50 percent above the legal limit, officials said. McGuire was arrested Jan. 5, 2021, at his Howell home, taken to the Ocean County Jail, and later released under New Jersey's bail reform rules, they said.

Heritage Minerals is a 7,000-acre private property owned by the Hovnanian Corporation. It originally was operated by the American Smelting and Refining Company, also known as ASARCO, as a mineral mining site. It later was owned and operated by Heritage Minerals until the mining operations stopped in the early 1980s.

The property is popular with ATV riders and has been a magnet for swimmers, but has been the site of several fatalities, including swimmers lured by the water that fills the former mining pits.

The pits appear to be lakes, but they are actually filled with water from groundwater aquifers, water that is much colder than typical lakes that are stream-fed. Because they were mining pits, the shorelines and lake bottoms are not stable, and there have been multiple incidents.

The property has posted "No Trespassing" signs, but neither that nor the dangers have deterred ATV riders.

"Under no circumstance should anyone walk or drive on this exposed shelf or approach or enter these waters," police have said on multiple occasions.

Billhimer said the following people and agencies were involved in the investigation of this case:

Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron and Assistant Prosecutor Alyssa Mandara who are handling the case on behalf of the State; the prosecutor’s office Vehicular Homicide and Victim Witness Advocacy units; Manchester Township Police; New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit; Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit; Manchester Volunteer Fire Company, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Whiting Volunteer Fire Company, Manchester Township Emergency Medical Services, Robert Wood Johnson paramedics, and Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.

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