Marcos Ortega Windshield: NJ Motorist Hits Man, Travels Mile With Body In Car’s Glass
It’s not a classic hit-and-run accident, but prosecutors say a New Jersey man faces charges for a vehicular accident that left a man seriously injured on Monday. Allegedly, Marcos Ortega traveled a mile with a man stuck in his windshield, and stopped only after police caught up with him. The pedestrian who was struck by the drunken driver has to be airlifted to a hospital. Ortega remains in jail, according to the New York Daily News.
Ortega, 33, from Little Egg Harbor was motoring along north on Main Street just before 7 p.m. on Route 9 when he apparently left the road and struck a man walking along the shoulder of the road. The force of the collision with the 61-year-old man from Lacey caused him to be lodged in the Marcos Ortega’s windshield.
Waretown police received calls of a motorist driving recklessly, and units were dispatched to the area. Moments later, officers observed a car driving erratically and noticed what looked like a person lying on the hood of the car. After stopping the car on Dolphin Way, responding authorities realized Marcos Ortega was driving with a man in the windshield, and had struck the victim over a mile away before coming to a stop.
Kenneth C. Moeller was extricated from the glass and flown to a Jersey Shore hospital in Neptune. Doctors say he was listed in critical condition upon arrival. Police officers say the man was suffering with severe lacerations on the scene. It’s unknown if the man was conscious and able to speak. No information is available about why the victim was walking along the road at the time. Additionally, sources have not provided information about weather and lighting conditions at the time.
Ortega was charged with DUI after failing a field sobriety test on the scene. Additionally, blood samples were taken from the New Jersey man to confirm suspicions of driver impairment from the windshield hit-and-run accident. Police charged Marcos Ortega with leaving the scene of an accident, causing serious injury, and not rendering help to the victim. Bail was set at $150,000, and there is no 10 percent option in this matter based on the order.
The Waretown Police Department is investigating Monday’s accident. However, prosecutors are confident that Marcos Ortega was drunk when he hit the man and drove around with him lodged in the car’s windshield.
[Image via: New York Daily News]
