Woman Set Ablaze By Morris Co. Teen's Tossed Firework: Prosecutor

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A 19-year-old Randolph resident was charged alongside a Passaic County teen after they tossed a lit firework out a car window that hit a pedestrian in Beach Haven, the Ocean Country Prosecutor's Office said.

Justin Liebhauser, 19, of Randolph, and Gianni Aveta, 18, of Wayne, were both charged with aggravated arson, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Both men were served with summonses pending their first appearance in Ocean County Superior Court, according to police.

On July 22, a 53-year-old woman told Beach Haven police that around 10:15 p.m., she was walking on Pennsylvania Avenue when she was hit by a firework that had been thrown from the passenger's side window of a Jeep Wrangler, Billhimer said.

The firework exploded, hitting the woman in the arm and rib area, causing her clothes to catch fire, Billhimer said. Police contacted EMS and the woman was treated for second-degree burns to her arm, police said.

Police stopped a Jeep Wrangler matching the description given by the victim around 11:30 p.m. that night, according to Billhimer. Liebhauser was driving the Jeep, with Aveta and minors as passengers, he said.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crime Unit and the Beach Haven Police Department revealed that Liebhauser was driving the Jeep with Aveta and the minors earlier in the evening in the area of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Liebhauser handed a five-inch mortar shell firework to Aveta, who lit the firework and tossed it out the passenger side of the vehicle, hitting the woman, Billhimer said.

Billhimer and Markoski acknowledged the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crime Unit, Beach Haven Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their collective assistance in connection with this investigation.