Man Pleads Guilty To Death By Auto In Crash Near Toms River Wawa

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Jackson Township man has pleaded guilty to death by auto in a drunk-driving crash that killed a Toms River man near the Wawa on Route 9 in October 2019, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

Douglas Thompson, 56, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11 on the death-by-auto charge, and is to plead guilty at that time to driving while intoxicated, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Billhimer said Thompson had a blood alcohol concentration of .17 — more than twice the legal limit of .08 — at the time of the Oct. 15, 2019 crash near the Wawa on Route 9 in Toms River. Thompson rear-ended a car driving by Thomas Marciano, 65, of Toms River. Marciano was stopped on Route 9 behind another vehicle that was making a left turn when Thompson rear-ended his vehicle, authorities said.

Marciano was taken to Community Medical Center and then flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune due to the severity of his injuries. He died at Jersey Shore on Oct. 28, 2019.

Billhimer said the state will recommend a five-year prison term for Thompson when Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan sentences him.

Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Robert Cassidy and Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron handled the case. The Toms River Township Police Department Traffic Safety Division, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Toms River EMS, and Silverton EMS, investigated the crash.

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