NJ woman may get prison for hit-and-run that killed beloved restaurant owner

🚗 A Seaside Park woman admitted to a drunken hit-and-run that killed a beloved Jersey Shore business owner.

🐟 Victim Robert “Bob” Popovics, longtime Shady Rest Restaurant owner and famed fly fisherman, later died from his injuries.

⚖️ The driver now faces prison, with sentencing set for June.

A 51-year-old woman is now facing prison after admitting to causing a hit-and-run in Seaside Heights that killed a beloved restaurant owner.

Genell McInaw, of Seaside Park, has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the 2024 killing of 75-year-old Robert “Bob” Popovics, also of Seaside Park.

McInaw's sentencing will be on June 26. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors are seeking a term of five years in prison.

Popovics ran the Shady Rest Restaurant in Bayville for nearly 60 years and was also a legendary saltwater fly fisherman.

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Pedestrian critically struck in Seaside Heights

On Sept. 23, 2024 around 9:30 p.m., Seaside Heights police responded to the area of Dupont Avenue and the Boulevard, where they found Popovics lying unconscious and seriously hurt in the road.

Popovics later died of his injuries at a hospital on Nov. 1, 2024.

Investigators say the victim was hit by a dark sedan heading south on the Boulevard. The car was traced back to McInaw, who was arrested at her home.

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Test results from a sample taken the night of the crash showed her blood alcohol level to be above the legal limit, prosecutors said.

On the Facebook page of Shady Rest Restaurant, community members and longtime friends of Popovics mourned the business owner.

McInaw's sentencing will be on June 26. Prosecutors are seeking a term of five years in prison.