Man Charged With Fatal South Brunswick Crash While Fleeing Robbery

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Maryland man has now been charged with causing a fatal crash in a stolen car fleeing a jewelry store robbery on December 22, 2022, on Beekman Road in South Brunswick.

This was the crash where a stolen Dodge Charger fled an armed robbery of a jewelry store on Rt. 27 in Franklin Township. Shortly after 4 p.m., the stole car crashed into three separate cars — all occupied — on Beekman Road.

A male passenger of the Dodge Charger, identified as Joshuah Matthews, 31, of Washington, D.C., died as a result of the crash.

The other occupants of the Dodge fled the scene. The Charger was determined to be stolen from Maryland.

South Brunswick Police worked with the FBI and many other law enforcement agencies to determine that Franklin Hunter, 32, of Maryland, was the driver of the Dodge Charger.

He caused the crash that killed Matthews, and then got out of the car and fled, said police.

The people in the three other cars he hit all suffered minor injuries, said South Brunswick Police.

Hunter was charged Jan. 26 with first-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree vehicular homicide, causing a death while driving unlicensed, aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and other charges.

He is currently being held in the District of Columbia Central Detention Facility on unrelated charges.

This was an investigation that took 13 months, and involved South Brunswick Police working with the FBI, U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia, plus ATF agents from Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.

"The case was solved because of great teamwork between all the law enforcement involved," said Chief Raymond Hayducka. "The investigation spanned multiple states and required extensive time. The two arrests this week in fatal hit-n-run crashes show the determination of our investigators to track down those responsible. I appreciate all the hard work involved in making these arrests."