A New Jersey man faces felony charges in connection with a late-night boating crash on Barnegat Bay that killed a 26-year-old passenger and left two others critically injured. The incident occurred on July 25 in Toms River Township.
Kevin Wells, 40, of Warren, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide and two counts of assault by vessel while intoxicated. According to the New Jersey State Police Marine Bureau, troopers responded to reports of a serious vessel collision along the Intracoastal Waterway just before 11 p.m. Investigators said Wells was operating a 32-foot Boston Whaler when the boat struck a channel marker.
Following the collision, Wells navigated the damaged vessel to a private residence where emergency personnel provided aid. The passenger who died has been identified as Michael T. Bereheiko, 26, of Green Brook, New Jersey. Two other passengers, Steven Pochick, 27, and Nicholas Cherasaro, 27, both of Green Brook, sustained serious injuries and were hospitalized. A fourth passenger, Sarah Stulh, 24, of Bayville, had minor injuries.
Bereheiko was remembered as a 2017 graduate of Watchung Hills Regional High School and worked as a heavy diesel mechanic. His family noted his mechanical talent and his enjoyment of spending time at the Jersey Shore.
Wells was booked into the Ocean County Jail and is being held without bail pending a court detention hearing. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
This incident is at least the third fatal boating collision this summer in the area where alleged impairment was a factor. On Memorial Day, Jennifer L. Pearson, 59, of Barnegat, was charged after her boat struck a channel marker, ejecting her son, Gunnar Pearson, 28, and his girlfriend. Gunnar Pearson later died at a hospital. Pearson faces charges including death by vessel and operating under the influence.
In another fatal incident on July 19, Stephen Schneider, 64, was charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide after his boat collided with a channel marker near Berkeley Township, resulting in the deaths of his grandchildren, 9-year-old Mya Bella Golabek and 7-year-old Sigmund Paul Golabek. Authorities alleged Schneider was intoxicated at the time of that crash.