New Brunswick Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal Hit-And-Run

A New Brunswick man has pleaded guilty to a fatal hit and run that claimed the life of a 26-year-old father of two.

Timothy Puskas, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to a second- degree charge of vehicular homicide, admitting he was driving the vehicle that killed Leonel Lopez Hernandez, 26, of New Brunswick on January 25, 2012, according to a news release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Sheree Pitchford is expected to recommend an eight-year prison term, with a more than 6 1/2 year-period of parole ineligibility. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct.14, before state Superior Court Judge Diane Pincus in New Brunswick.

Puskas was charged two days after the crash, following an intensive investigation by New Brunswick Officer Hector Lugo and Detective Greg Morris and Lt. Paul Miller, both of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Puskas was driving a 1998 Toyota 4Runner when he hit Hernandez at 10:53 p.m., then fled on Georges Road in the city.

The victim, a married father with two young children, was riding his bicycle home from his job as a custodian at Bristol­Myers Squibb.

Puskas was driving on Georges Road, heading toward North Brunswick when he crossed into the oncoming lane and hit Hernandez, who was riding the side of the road near South Talmadge Street.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

A co-­defendant, Stephen Gallo, 38, of Milltown, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering the apprehension of Puskas by helping him hide the Toyota.

Gallo, who was a passenger in the Toyota that night, is expected to be sentenced to serve a probationary term of up to five years. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

In an unrelated case, Puskas has been indicted on a murder charge in connection with the fatal beating of a Kean University student who was killed in New Brunswick last year. That case is pending.

He has been held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick since February 2014, with bail set at more than $5 million, according to NJ.com.