Man Indicted In Hit-And-Run That Killed Colts Neck Man

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- An Island Heights man has been indicted on charges he left the scene of a Route 37 accident after hitting a pedestrian who died as a result, according to a report.

Mark Rothlein, 51, of Island Heights, was indicted Tuesday by an Ocean County grand jury in connection with the March 6 incident that killed Jeffrey Michel, 27, of Colts Neck, NJ.com reported. The charge is leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, according to court records.

Michel, who was a student at Brookdale Community College, was struck as he walked along Route 37 west, authorities said at the time. Michel was found lying in the road by the curb not far from Fischer Boulevard on the evening of March 6 after a motorist notified police of seeing a person lying by the side of the road, Al Della Fave spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, said at the time. Michel was pronounced dead at the scene of his injuries, authorities said.

Investigators tracked a piece of blue debris gathered at the scene on March 6 -- a piece of plastic broken off a vehicle that struck Michel -- and were able to trace it through ”good old-fashioned police work,” to a blue Jeep owned by Rothlein’s wife, Della Fave said.

Rothlein, a real estate agent, was arrested March 18 at his Island Heights home.