SUV Crashes Into Toms River Shopping Center

A Barnegat man has been charged in an early morning accident on Route 37 in Toms River that sent his SUV crashing into a store inside a shopping plaza.

Edward Halko, 36, of Barnegat, is being charged  with DWI, failure to wear a seatbelt and failure to maintain lane.

Toms River Police say the Halko was behind the wheel of his SUV heading east on Route 37 around 2 a.m. when it left the road, knocked over a traffic light pole, and went across the parking lot of the Delta gas station.

The Ford then continued into the parking lot of Oak Ridge Shopping Center, coming to a stop inside Young's Medical Equipment which suffered extensive damage.

Halko was extricated from his vehicle and taken by ambulance to West Dover Elementary School where he was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Route 37 was closed for about 3 hours while JCP&L and the New Jersey Department of Transportation worked to replace the traffic light.

Toms River Police are investigating the accident.