LAKEWOOD — A 28-year-old Bayville man lost control of his vehicle, which went airborne and crashed into a car dealership lot damaging eight vehicles, Saturday morning, police said.
The driver, Ruben Sanchez, fled the scene of the 2:16 a.m. crash at Autos 4 Less at 1192 Ocean Ave., said police Sgt. Guillermo Clarke.
Sanchez had a passenger, Mateo Flores, who was found hiding in the bushes about 400 feet away from the crashed cars by Ocean County Sheriff?s K-9s. Flores was not arrested and told police he was getting a ride home, Clarke said.
The crash was witnessed by another driver who was able to identify Sanchez after he was found walking on Ocean Avenue near Clover Street about 5 a.m. Police were called there on a report of a shirtless man with bloodied scratches over his bare skin, Clarke said.
?It looked like he had been hiding in bushes,? Clarke said.
Officer Kristie Buble took Sanchez into custody. When authorities notified Immigrations Customs Enforcement of Sanchez?s arrest he was ordered held on an ICE detainer, Clarke said. Sanchez received motor vehicle summonses, including leaving scene of an accident and reckless driving. He was held in the Ocean County Jail for immigration purposes, Clarke said.
Autos 4 Less was back open Saturday, but with a few less vehicles, salesman Shane Trautwein said.
?It doesn?t stop us but it?s just a headache,? he said, noting the damaged vehicles have been put in storage pending help from the insurance company.
Among the vehicles damaged were a Nissan convertible that appeared run over and a 2001 Mustang, 2001 Acura TL and Chevrolet pickup that were damaged in a chain reaction started with the Nissan, Trautwein said. A metal pole was also knocked on top of the Nissan and Mustang, he said.
Trautwein said he knows accidents can happen on a dealership lot, but the scale of this was shocking.
?There was glass over practically every car in the lot,? he said.
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