Man Killed Former HS Soccer Player In Central Jersey Hit-And-Run, Prosecutors Say

A Red Bank man was accused of killing a pedestrian and leaving the scene of a crash in Shrewsbury, authorities said.

A cruiser for the Shrewsbury Borough (NJ) Police Department.
Photo Credit: *Facebook - Shrewsbury Pba*

08/23/2024 3:13 p.m.

Jose Rodriguez-Jimenez, 40, was charged with second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of an accident under certain circumstances, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in a news release on Friday, Aug. 23. The charge came after 23-year-old Mariano Codallos-Tepepa of Brick Township died in a crash on Monday, Aug. 5.

Shrewsbury police responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive male lying in the right northbound lane of Shrewsbury Avenue just after 2:45 a.m. Codallos-Tepepa was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said Rodriguez-Jimenez was driving a Ford Econoline van when he struck Codallos-Tepepa. Rodriguez-Jimenez didn't stop and didn't report the crash to police.

Codallos-Tepepa was a former soccer player at Middletown North High School and graduated in 2019, according to his obituary from John E. Day Funeral Home.

A GoFundMe page in Codallos-Tepepa's memory had raised more than $17,400 from at least 293 donations as of Friday, Aug. 23.

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