MIDDLETOWN – Township police on Wednesday arrested a Leonardo woman for being the alleged driver in a fatal hit-and-run collision at a Highway 36 intersection last week that killed a 15-year-old pedestrian.
Police have charged Toni Ann Marletta, 49, Thompson Avenue, with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, failing to report a motor vehicle accident, for not having auto insurance, unsafe tires and leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident, according to Deputy Chief Stephen Dollinger, a police spokesman.
Authorities charge that Marletta struck and killed Marissa Rose Procopio-Quan, 15, Atlantic Highlands, at approximately 8:25 p.m. on July 7, when Procopio-Quan was attempting to cross the highway at the Avenue D intersection, in the township’s Leonardo section. Police alleged Marletta left the scene before officers arrived, with investigators later identifying Marletta and her vehicle.
State Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien-Kilgallen, in Freehold, set Marletta’s bail at $150,000 without the option to post a 10 percent bond.
Marletta is currently being held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold.
Officers with the township department’s Traffic and Safety Bureau conducted the investigation in conjuncture with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to Dollinger, leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident is classified as a second degree crime, carrying with it a maximum penalty a 10-year prison sentence with a conviction.
– By John Burton
