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Robert Hagens, 42, was charged on Tuesday with the murder of Vidal Carrasquillo-Vasquez, 41, of Perth Amboy, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Perth Amboy Police Chief Roman McKeon.
Hagens also was charged with unlawfully possessing a weapon, they said.
Hagens previously had been arrested on Aug. 24 on a charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine, they said.
The new murder and weapons charges were filed on Tuesday, they said, after an investigation by Perth Amboy Detective Frank Cristiano and Detective Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Perth Amboy police responded to a 9-1-1 call shortly before midnight on Aug. 23 about a one-vehicle crash at the intersection of Hall Avenue and High Street, they said.
Patrol officers found the vehicle's driver -- later identified as Carrasquillo-Vasquez -- with several gunshot wounds, authorities said.
Carrasquillo-Vasquez was taken to Staten Island University Hospital and subsequently pronounced dead, Ciccone and McKeon said.
Authorities did not release any other details about the shooting.
Hagens was being held at the Middlesex County Jail in North Brunswick pending a detention hearing, they said.
An investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Cristiano at 732-324-3837 or Detective Morris at 732-745-3927.
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