🚨Warren Twp man charged in fatal Barnegat Bay boat crash
A Warren Township man faces charges after a boating accident in Barnegat Bay on July 25 that left one passenger dead.
Kevin Wells, 39, was driving a 32-foot Boston Whaler Model 320 Outrage with five passengers when it struck Intracoastal Water Marker #22 around 11 p.m., according to police. Michael T. Bereheiko, 26, of Green Brook, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Wells was charged with vehicular homicide and two counts of assault by auto/vessel. He is currently held without bail at Ocean County Jail.
Two passengers, Steven Pochick, 27, of Green Brook, and Nicholas Cherasaro, 27, of North Plainfield, were hospitalized with serious injuries, including broken ribs and vertebrae. Sarah Stulh, 24, of Bayville, sustained minor injuries.
First responders located the victims at a residence on Silver Lagoon Drive in Toms River after the incident. Authorities confirmed that alcohol was involved in the crash.
🚨Deadly summer continues on Barnegat Bay
This incident marks the third fatal boating crash in Barnegat Bay this summer, claiming four lives across three separate incidents.
On July 19, Mya Bella Golabek, 9, and her brother Sigmund “Siggy” Paul Golabek, 7, died when a boat, operated by their grandfather, crashed into a waterway marker. Stephen Schneider, 63, of Bayville, faces charges for reckless vessel homicide in that incident.
Earlier in the summer, Gunnar Pearson, 28, of Barnegat, died on May 25 after a crash involving a center console boat. His mother was charged with death by vessel for operating recklessly under the influence.