A Morris County man has been arrested and charged in connection with the hit-and-run incident that left a 12-year-old child fatally injured in Union two weeks ago, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Union Police Director Daniel Zieser jointly announced Friday.
According to the Union County Prosector’s Office, Mr. Jose V. Marrero, 37, of the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany-Troy Hills, turned himself in to authorities Friday evening and is charged with second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection with the death of Jeremy Maraj of Union.
Union Police Department patrol units responded to a report of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17 in the area of Forest Drive and Galloping Hill Road in Union, according to the investigation.
Police say Maraj was rushed to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead two days later.
A joint investigation by the Union County Homicide Task Force and Union Police Department revealed that Marrero was driving his work vehicle, a Nissan NV200 cargo van, when he struck Maraj.
Marrero was lodged in Union County Jail after turning himself in, pending a first appearance and detention hearing to take place in Superior Court during the coming days.
Anyone with information about this matter still is being urged to contact Task Force Detective Sean Holcomb at 908-358-8377 or Union Police Officer Michael Salerno at 908-851-5070.
Convictions on second-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by 5 to 10 years in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.