Staten Island, NY man pleads guilty to being drunk and high in Seaside Heights, NJ hit-and-run

A Staten Island man has pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana in a hit-and-run car crash in Seaside Heights last August.

The arrest, charges, and guilty plea of the New York man for his actions in the Seaside Heights crash were announced by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

There was nobody inside the vehicle that 26-year-old Antwan McPhatter struck last August 19 in Seaside Heights.

Police in the borough received a report of a hit-and-run around 6:30 pm that night along Blaine Avenue and the Boulevard involving a 2015 Jeep Cherokee.

When officers spotted the Jeep and tried to pull it over for a motor vehicle stop, McPhatter opted to head in the wrong direction of Sheridan Avenue and then sped off along Route 35 when he saw police lights and heard the sirens and eventually made a turn onto Beach Drive in neighboring Ortley Beach.

McPhatter finally stopped at the end of that road but then picked it up again heading westbound this time along Route 35.

After flooring it through a stop sign, and heading onto Route 35, he finally stopped for real after he struck a marked police vehicle and then a utility pole, which then fell on top of the Jeep Cherokee.

McPhatter then tried to flee on foot, but was arrested right then and there.

Following the accident on the patrol vehicle, Prosecutor Billhimer said that two Seaside Heights Police Officers were brought to Community Medical Center in Toms River where they were evaluated and treated for minor injuries and later released.

McPhatter had a slightly longer stay at the hospital because of blood work that was being done after investigators secured a court-authorized warrant.

When the blood work was completed, McPhatter was brought to the Ocean County Jail where he remains to this day.

The lab results that came back from the blood draw should that McPhatter was "under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana at the time of the incident and was therefore unfit to operate a motor vehicle."

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Antwan McPhatter, 26, of Staten Island, New York, was charged and has now pleaded guilty to Eluding, Driving While Intoxicated, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Property Damage.

Prosecutor Billhimer said that when McPhatter is sentenced on November 3, 2022, "the State will be seeking a term of six years New Jersey State Prison." 

Prosecutor Billhimer also announced that Ocean County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron handled the case on behalf of the State and credits the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Seaside Heights Police Department, Toms River Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, "for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation leading to McPhatter’s apprehension, guilty plea, and soon his state prison sentence."