Luke Ferrante

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A Spring Lake man is facing criminal charges after he struck and seriously injured a 16-year-old Jewish boy in Jackson Township on Tuesday, June 3—the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, according to officials and the Lakewood Scoop.

Luke Ferrante, 47, was charged with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in serious bodily injury, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a release Wednesday.

The victim, identified by The Lakewood Scoop as a Jewish boy, was walking along South New Prospect Road around 12:15 p.m. when he was struck by a Nissan Altima that veered over the white line and onto the gravel sidewalk, according to Billhimer.

The boy was found lying in the roadway with serious head injuries, Billhimer said. He was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was in stable condition as of Wednesday.

Roughly 30 minutes later, police were called to nearby Valley Road, where they found Ferrante slumped over the steering wheel of a Nissan Altima with front-end damage, the prosecutor said. He was taken into custody and later transported to Monmouth Medical Center–Southern Campus, where blood was drawn under a court-authorized warrant. Results are pending

Ferrante remains held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.