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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