Police Lights (Photo: Jason Rojas/Flickr)
A North Jersey man died late Saturday night in a boat crash on Barnegat Bay that remains under investigation, state police said in a statement issued Sunday.
The accident occurred at 10:56 p.m. in the bay off Toms River, the statement said. According to police, a 32-foot Boston Whaler, traveling through the Intracoastal Waterway channel, struck a channel marker. After the collision, the operator of the vessel, Kevin Wells, a 39-year-old male from Warren Township, N.J., drove the vessel to a residence on Silver Lagoon Drive in Toms River Township, where emergency personnel responded to render aid.
As a result of the crash, Michael T. Bereheiko, 26, of Green Brook, was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. Steven Pochick, a 27-year-old man, also from Green Brook, and Nicholas Cherasaro, 27, of North Plainfield, sustained serious injuries and were transported to an area hospital. Finally, Sarah Stulh, 24, of Bayville, sustained minor injuries.
Two osprey in a nest on a channel marker in Barnegat Bay off Lavallette, N.J., Aug. 2022. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Saturday night’s crash is the second fatal boating accident this summer during which a vessel struck a channel marker. In the previous accident, two small children died after their grandfather’s boat struck an ICW marker after an evening at a dock-and-dine restaurant in Bayville.
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