An incident involving “road rage” led to the stabbing of a Toms River man by two men who were driving a car with a New York license plate.
The incident took place the night of Aug. 5 at the intersection of Route 88 and Barb Lane, police said.
The victim, described as a 39-year-old white male, told police that he had been in a fight with suspects who were operating an Acura sedan. The Acura was described as being dark in color, with tinted windows and a New York registration.
The incident began as the vehicles were travelling west on Route 88 in Point Pleasant towards Brick. The victim said that the driver of Acura was yelling at him and his family while driving aggressively.
“This continued until the vehicles reached the intersection of Route 88 and Barb Lane,” Sgt. Larry Petrola said.
At the intersection, the driver of the Acura exited his vehicle and approached the victim’s vehicle. The victim then exited his vehicle and a fight ensued on the side of the road, initially just involving the drivers of both vehicles.
The driver of the Acura was then joined by the two other occupants of the Acura in the assault, Petrola said.
During the fight, the driver of the Jeep was stabbed with what was described as a small knife.
The occupants of the Acura then fled back to their vehicle and left the area on Jack Martin Boulevard towards Route 70. The victim then lost sight of the Acura.
According to police, the victim was treated and released from Ocean Medical Center for lacerations to his head and elbow.
Detectives Timothy McCarthy and Mark Byrne were able to recover a short video clip which was taken by a passerby and released to Shorebeat. The clip shows the end of the altercation leading up to the suspect’s running back to their vehicle.
The Brick Township Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects, who are described as two black males and one black female, who are shown in the video wearing light colored shirts.
Anyone who believes they may have seen the suspect vehicle, or recognize anyone else involved, is being asked to contact Det. Timothy McCarthy in the Brick Township Police Detective Bureau at 732-262-1169. They can also contact the Brick Township Police directly at 732-262-1100.
