Video shows Lakewood, NJ crash with pole that killed passenger

🚨 Driver Angel Garcia-Rodriguez, 26, of Lakewood abandoned the car after the crash

🚨 The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene

🚨 Garcia-Rodriguez was found at a house in Lakewood and taken into custody

LAKEWOOD — A passenger was killed after a car crashed into a utility pole early Saturday morning.

Angel Garcia-Rodriguez, 26, of Lakewood was charged after Lakewood police were called to James Street around 2:25 a.m. and found a 2007 Honda Civic that had struck a utility pole.

A critically injured male was in the passenger seat but the driver was gone, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.

The passenger was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The victim’s identity has not been disclosed.

Video posted by The Lakewood Scoop shows the sedan speeding on James Street, turning halfway around as it approaches the pole. The passenger side made the first contact with the pole.

Blood sample taken at hospital

Police said Garcia-Rodriguez was driving the Civic. They later found him at a residence in Lakewood. He was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus where a court-authorized blood sample was taken.

Garcia-Rodriguez was charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in a death, as well as endangering an injured victim. He is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

WARNING: Violent crash

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