NJ man picking up furniture drove into a man and left him for dead

MANCHESTER — A 63-year-old township resident has been sentenced to six years in state prison after being found guilty of knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident.

On April 13, township police responded to a residence on Yorktowne Parkway in the  Whiting section about 3:45 p.m., according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Officers found that a pedestrian, 69-year-old Jack Gotfried, had been struck by a car. He was lying in the roadway with traumatic injuries to his lower body.

Gotfried was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead.

An investigation found that 63-year-old Kevin Noonan, of Manchester, had stopped at Gotfried's home to pick up furniture that Gotfried was giving away.

While loading the furniture into Noonan's vehicle, Noonan backed his car up at a high rate of speed and struck Gotfried, pinning him between the rear of the vehicle and a truck parked in front of the residence.

Noonan then fled the scene, leaving Gotfried injured in the roadway. A short time later, Noonan was found walking in the area of Western Boulevard in Lacey, where he was taken into custody by a detective from the prosecutor's office.

Noonan has been held at the Ocean County Jail since his arrest.

Aside from his six-year prison sentence, a judge also suspended Noonan's driving privileges for a total of three years and fined him $2,500 for the charges that he pleaded guilty to in February.

Jen Ursillo is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at jennifer.ursillo@townsquaremedia.com

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