Toms River Man Gets 7 Years In Fatal 2020 DWI Crash On Parkway

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for a fatal drunken-driving crash on the Garden State Parkway in 2020 that killed a New York man, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Roberto Sandoval-Guerrero, 38, of Toms River, was sentenced to seven years in prison, subject to the No Early Release Act requiring him to serve 85 percent of his term. Ocean County Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski also suspended his driving privileges for 10 years, with the suspension to begin after his release from prison, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

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Sandoval-Guerrero had pleaded guilty on Sept. 15 to vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicatedin the Sept. 5, 2020 death of Daniel Cintron.

Cintron, 50, of Ossining, New York, was hit and killed near milepost 86 southbound about 11:15 p.m, as he and Frank Puglisi, 21, of Staten Island, exchanged information following what police said was a minor motor vehicle crash.

As they were trading information they were hit by a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer driven by Sandoval-Guerrero. Puglisi was hit on his left arm, but Cintron was thrown into the lanes of travel where he was run over by passing traffic. He died at the scene, police said.

Sandoval-Guerrero drove away, ultimately abandoning the vehicle on the shoulder and running off. He was found in the area of Route 9 and Church Road and was arrested. A blood test revealed he had a blood alcohol level of .146, nearly double the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Sandoval-Guerrero has been held at the Ocean County Jail since his arrest on Sept. 5, 2020, Billhimer said.

The guilty plea to the DWI charge means Sandoval-Guerrero must install an ignition interlock device on the vehicle he principally operates for a year following the expiration of the 10-year suspension of his driving privileges, the prosecutor's office said.

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