Seaside Heights Hit-And-Run Draws 5-Year Prison Sentence For NY Man

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Staten Island man has been sentenced to five years in prison in an August 2021 hit-and-run crash that damaged one vehicle and led to a crash that injured two Seaside Heights police officers, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Antwan McPhatter, 27, of Staten Island, New York, was sentenced Thursday by Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski to state prison on a charge of eluding that he pleaded guilty to earlier this year, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Gizinski also suspended McPhatter’s driving privileges for six months on the eluding conviction, and to 30 days in the Ocean County Jail for leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage, along with a concurrent six-month loss of his driving privileges, Billhimer said. McPhatter pled guilty to these charges on Aug. 29.

McPhatter was driving a 2015 Jeep Cherokee about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2021, when Seaside Heights police were called to Blaine Avenue at the Boulevard for the report of a hit-and-run, authorities said. The Jeep Cherokee had hit an unoccupied vehicle and then took off. Seaside Heights police found a Jeep Cherokee matching the description going the wrong direction on Sheridan Avenue. When they tried to pull it over, the driver, later identified as McPhatter, took off at high speed, ultimately going north on Route 35.

The Jeep Cherokee turned right onto Beach Drive in Ortley Beach and then came to a stop at the end of Beach Drive but accelerated westbound toward Route 35, authorities said. The Jeep Cherokee then ran a stop sign and entered Route 35, where McPhatter hit a marked Seaside Heights Police vehicle. The Jeep Cherokee then hit a utility pole that fell on it. McPhatter got out and tried to run away but was arrested, authorities said.

Two Seaside Heights police officers were treated at Community Medical Center in Toms River for minor injuries and released, Billhimer said. McPhatter also was taken to Community Medical Center and his blood was drawn pursuant to a court-authorized warrant.

McPhatter was taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he has been lodged since his arrest.

Laboratory results of McPhatter’s blood draw showed he was under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana at the time of the crashes and was unfit to operate a motor vehicle, Billhimer said.