Police, Fire & Courts

Driver Indicted in Road Rage Incident That Killed Brick Man, 26

by
Daniel Nee
October 28, 2022

Avrohom Pam (Photo: OCPO)

A Lakewood man has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges more than a year after he was involved in an accident that was precipitated by a road rage incident, prosecutors said Friday.

Avrohom Pam, 20, of Lakewood, was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Ocean County this week, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. The indictment was handed up in connection with a motor vehicle crash that occurred in Lakewood in the early evening hours of June 11, 2021, resulting in the death of Sean Avon, 26, of Brick. Pam is facing charges of death by auto – New Jersey’s vehicular homicide law – as well as assault by auto.

Lakewood police were called to the area of Lanes Mills Road for a report of a serious motor vehicle crash at about 5:15 p.m. that day, according to a police report. An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Squad, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that Pam was driving a 2021 Ford van in the rightmost lane of travel on Lanes Mills Road, when he struck a 2019 Honda CRV being driven by John Arendt, Jr., 73, of Brick Township.

The force of the collision propelled Arendt’s vehicle into the northbound lane of traffic where it struck a 2012 Ford Mustang head-on being driven by Avon.

Avon suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash and was transported to Ocean Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased. Arendt was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, where he was treated for his injuries and released. Pam remained on the scene and did not require medical attention.

“An investigation conducted by the aforementioned law enforcement agencies revealed that a verbal altercation had occurred between Pam and Mr. Arendt which precipitated the motor vehicle crash, and that Pam’s reckless driving was the cause of this crash – resulting in Mr. Avon’s death,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

On June 12, 2022, Pam was charged and subsequently processed at Lakewood Township police headquarters. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail, but later released as a consequence of New Jersey’s bail reform law, the prosecutor’s office said. He remains free.