Police search ends in fatal Bernards crash

• Shern Noel is being held in Somerset County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail
• Police followed the car because it had a suspended registration
• Noel fled on foot from fatal crash, but was caught in nearby woods

BERNARDS – A Brooklyn, New York, teenager is in the Somerset County Jail after leading police on a search Wednesday night that resulted in his passenger being killed in a crash.

Shern A. Noel, 18, has been charged with death by vehicular homicide, knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, eluding, aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim.

Noel is being held in lieu of $200,00 bail.

Police still are attempting to identify the dead passenger and notify the next of kin.

About 8:57 p.m., a Bernards Township patrol officer saw a 2013 Honda Accord, bearing a New York registration and tinted windows, parked in a Martinsville Road service station, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said

A check of the vehicle’s registration found it was suspended, Soriano said.

The car, driven by Noel, then left the parking lot, and the police officer followed it to Valley Road, where the officer activated his emergency lights.

When the police car approached, Noel accelerated and fled the area, Soriano said.

Additional police cars arrived and canvassed the area in a search for the Honda.

A patrol unit found the car with its lights off parked in a cul-de-sac, the prosecutor said.

Noel once again accelerated at a high rate of speed and sped away, according to Soriano.

While searching for the vehicle a second time, patrol officers at 9:06 p.m. came across the Honda at a crash on Stonehouse Road near Columbia Road, Soriano said.

The front seat passenger had been ejected from the Honda and was found dead at the scene.

Noel had fled the accident scene on foot, but was apprehended in a nearby wooded area by Bernards Township Police, the prosecutor said.

Noel injured his wrist in the crash and was transported to an area hospital for treatment, police said.

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com