Fatal Barnegat Bay Pontoon Boat Crash Leads To Vehicular Homicide Charge For 18-Year-Old

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Morris County man has been charged in a fatal pontoon crash that killed one person and injured four others in June, authorities said Thursday.

Juan A. Fernandez II, 18, of Towaco, has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide in the June 13 pontoon boat crash on Barnegat Bay that killed Corey T. Molinari, 19, of Whippany, New Jersey State Police Col. Patrick Callahan and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a joint news release.

The charge is the result of a toxicology report on blood drawn from Fernandez the morning of the crash, state police said, and from the investigation into the crash. They did not release specifics on the toxicology report.

Fernandez also was charged with third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide and third-degree hindering, state police said.

The crash happened shortly after 1 a.m. on June 13, state police said. The investigation found Fernandez was driving a 2014 Bennington pontoon boat in Barnegat Bay when he hit Intracoastal Waterway Marker No. 26 head-on. Two people were thrown from the boat as a result of the crash, police said.

After the crash, Fernandez was able to navigate the vessel to Antiqua Avenue, where he met Toms River police and first responders, police said. Initially, Fernandez told authorities there were six people on the boat, but detectives later determined there had been nine people on the boat before the crash, police said. Three of them had been let off the boat just before the crash, police said.

When troopers with the New Jersey State Police Marine Services Bureau arrived at Antiqua Avenue Toms River police and other first responders were treating the injured, state police said. Four people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and Molinari was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

Fernandez was arrested in Boonton on Wednesday and taken to the State Police Tuckerton Station, where he was processed. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

The case is being prosecuted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, state police said.

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