Man struck on Route 33 trying to flee vehicle fire
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - Police believe alcohol may have been a factor when a Manal-apan resident who was involved in a one-car motor vehicle accident was struck by another vehicle as he tried to escape from his burning car.

In the wake of the incident, Route 33 was closed for almost three hours from shortly after 11 p.m. March 28 until it was reopened at about 2 a.m. March 29.

According to a report filed by respon-ding officer Patrolman George Heitz, at about 11:05 p.m. March 28, a 2004 Toyota Camry being driven by Josef Yelizarov, 40, of Manalapan, ran off the road while Yelizarov was traveling east on Route 33. The Camry struck a row of bushes in the median of Route 33 in the vicinity of the Brunswick bowling alley.

According to Heitz's investigation of the scene, Yelizarov's vehicle careened off the bushes it initially struck and came to rest atop some other bushes in the median. At that point the vehicle caught fire.

Heitz said that in an attempt to stay clear of his burning vehicle Yelizarov tried to cross the eastbound lanes of Route 33 on foot. At that point he was struck by a vehicle that was traveling in the right lane.

The vehicle that struck Yelizarov was a 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Jonathan Ball, 32, of Martinsville. According to the police report, Yelizarov was struck with the right front corner of Ball's truck, sustaining some minor broken bones and what was described as a brain injury contusion.

Yelizarov was transported by ambulance from the scene of the accident to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospi-tal, New Brunswick, for treatment of his injuries.

According to police, Yelizarov was released from the hospital sometime last week.

Police said it will take weeks for them to get Yelizarov's toxicology test results. They could not say what, if any, alcohol-related summonses may be issued to him as a result of the incident.

No summonses were issued to Ball.

Emergency responders to the scene of the accident included personnel from the Manalapan Police Department, the Eng-lishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad, Manalapan Fire Company No. 1, Mill-hurst, the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team and MONOC paramedics.

Heitz is asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact him or the Manalapan Police Department's Traffic Safety Unit at (732) 446-4300.