BRICK TOWNSHIP, New Jersey — A child on a bicycle left home Tuesday morning and never came back.
At around 6:50 a.m. on May 19, a 2021 BMW came speeding through the intersection of Lanes Mill Road and Rhode Island Avenue — and struck a young bicyclist who was crossing through a marked crosswalk.
The driver did not stop. They fled the scene.
When Brick Township Police Department officers arrived, they found the bicyclist lying in the roadway. Despite their response, there was nothing they could do.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Speeding BMW, a Marked Crosswalk, a Child Gone
According to investigators with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the BMW was traveling northbound at speed when it entered the intersection.
The bicyclist was heading westbound — inside a clearly marked crosswalk — when the vehicle made impact.
The crosswalk was there for a reason. It did not matter.
The force of the collision left the young rider in the road. The driver kept going.
The Driver Was a Juvenile Too
What made this case even more alarming was what investigators discovered next.
The driver behind the wheel of the BMW was not an adult. They were a juvenile — a child driving a car that should not have been in their hands, at a speed that left no room for anyone else’s safety.
Police tracked down and arrested the juvenile driver following the crash.
They are now being held at the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center.
Charges include knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in death — one of the most serious charges that can follow a hit-and-run.
A Community Left With Questions
This crash raises serious questions that go beyond one intersection on one Tuesday morning.
How did a juvenile have access to a 2021 BMW? Who knew — and when? What was happening in the moments before that car reached that crosswalk at that speed?
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office is leading the investigation. No additional suspects have been named at this time.
For the family of the child who was killed, none of those answers will be enough. A kid got on a bicycle Tuesday morning and did not come home.
That is the part that stays with a community long after the investigation closes.
If you have any information about this crash, contact the Brick Township Police Department or the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
What are your thoughts on juvenile access to vehicles and road safety in your neighborhood? Share them in the comments — this is a conversation every community needs to have.
