Teen Driver Captured in Seaside Park for Fatal Memorial Day Weekend Crash Indicted

Abel Mathukutty (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

The teen driver who was arrested in Seaside Park after allegedly fleeing across the Route 37 bridge from an accident along the highway’s eastbound lanes has been indicted by a grand jury.

Abel Mathukutty, 18, of Lake Hiawatha, was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Ocean County on the charges of vehicular homicide, assault by auto, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing death, and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing serious bodily injury, all in connection with a motor vehicle crash that occurred in Toms River on May 24, 2025.

The crash occurred May 24, 2025, at approximately 7:25 p.m. near the easternmost portion of Route 37 on the mainland, near the Aqua Blu restaurant. Police responded for a report of a motor vehicle that had crashed into a utility pole, discovering upon arrival that a white Mercedes sedan, occupied by a female driver, later identified as Deborah Barone, 59, of Toms River, and a male passenger, Michael Barone, 64, also of Toms River – both of whom had sustained apparent serious bodily injuries – had crashed into a utility pole.

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Both occupants were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where Deborah Barone succumbed to her injuries. Michael Barone was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was treated for his injuries and subsequently released.

Investigators determined an Infiniti sedan had struck the Mercedes on the driver’s side, causing the Mercedes to crash into the utility pole. The Infiniti then fled the scene and continued eastbound, traveling over the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge. A description of the vehicle was broadcast to surrounding towns, and at approximately 8 p.m., officers from the Seaside Park Police Department stopped a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle.

Officers noted in a report that the vehicle had sustained heavy passenger side damage and that the airbags in the vehicle had been deployed. Continuing investigation revealed that the Infiniti was, in fact, the same vehicle involved in the earlier crash, and that Mathukutty was operating the vehicle at the time of said crash, the statement said.

Mathukutty was taken into custody at the scene without incident and charged. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail and subsequently released under the terms of New Jersey’s bail reform policy.

A continuing investigation by the the prosecutor’s Vehicular Homicide Squad has revealed that the vehicle allegedly operated by Mathukutty was traveling at a rate of 76 m.p.h. at the time of the crash; the posted speed limit on Route 37 is 50 m.p.h.