By NANCY RUMP

SEAVILLE - A local State Police trooper is credited with tracking down a man that fled the scene of an accident where his careless motorcycle antics caused him to sideswipe one vehicle and land under the bumper of another.

According to Sgt. Dwight Payne of the Woodbine barracks, at 5:35 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, an unknown motorcyclist attempted to pass a car driven by Elizabeth Blackledge of Ocean View that was traveling south on Route 50. Blackledge was stopped near the Seaville Fire Hall waiting to turn left into the parking lot of a nearby business.

Instead of passing the car, Payne said the motorcyclist sideswiped the woman’s red 2007 Chevrolet Impala, fell with the bike and skidded to a stop under another southbound traveling car in front of him, a black 2006 Nissan Xterra. He then, almost immediately, got up and fled the scene on foot, escaping before police arrived, he said.

Although the man left behind his bike, a 1982 Kawasaki, authorities had little information available to uncover his identity because the motorcycle had no license plates. He also had very limited contact with witnesses at the scene. Payne said the driver of the Xterra told troopers she felt something underneath her car and stopped to find a man on a motorcycle lying on the ground behind it. She went on to say the man stated simply he was “OK,” got up and fled, said Payne.

Two days later, acting on an anonymous call to the barracks, Woodbine Trooper John Inserra located the unknown man, now identified as Zackry Hamilton, 20, of Dennis Township. 

Inserra said with no plates on the motorcycle, he turned to the New Jersey State Police database for a search on the bike’s VIM number. That search, coupled with the call he received Nov. 26, led him to Hamilton’s doorstep within 48 hours of the incident. During the call, the tipster told Inserra he overheard someone saying they had left the scene of a motorcycle accident a couple of days ago and before police arrived. 

“When I went to speak to him, he was pretty banged up,” Inserra said, noting that the man’s visible injuries were consistent with a motorcycle crash.

As he continued to engage Hamilton in conversation, Inserra said the man raised his arms slightly revealing “rash marks,” commonly known as road rash, or abrasions sustained when a rider falls from a moving motorcycle and slides along the road.

Inserra then brought Hamilton back to the barracks to be interviewed and in a taped statement, the 20-year-old admitted to causing the accident and leaving the scene.

Payne said Inserra’s thorough investigation resulted in Hamilton being charged with a multitude of offenses for the hit-and-run.

Hamilton was issued motor vehicle summonses for careless driving, driving with a suspended license, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving without insurance, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report a motor vehicle accident. 

He was later released pending an appearance in Upper Township Municipal Court.