Driver Accused Of Fatally Hitting Howell Woman Apprehended

HOWELL, NJ - A fugitive from Ocean County - believed by authorities to have driven a car that fatally struck a Howell Township woman last Christmas Eve - has been located.

On March 3, Roberto Alcazar-Sanchez, 27, of Jackson, surrendered himself to United States Customs and Border Patrol Protection Agents in Laredo, Texas, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced Friday.

Alcazar-Sanchez is currently lodged in the Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas, where he will be quarantined for seven to ten days due to COVID-19 restrictions before he is extradited to Ocean County. When Alcazar-Sanchez returns to the state, he will be lodged in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing, the OCPO said.

On Dec. 24, 2020 at approximately 6 p.m., officers from the Jackson Township Police Department responded to a reported motor vehicle crash with "serious injuries" in the area of Cedar Swamp Road and I-195. The collision saw Norman Shtab, 83, of Howell, exiting I-195 at Exit 21 in a 2010 Mercedes Benz. As Schab made a left-hand turn onto Cedar Swamp Road, his vehicle collided with a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado.

The driver of the Silverado fled on foot, according to local authorities. A passenger in the Silverado, Jose Misael Pementel-Mendoza, 30, of Wrightstown, was transported and released from Jersey Shore Medical Center.

Shtab and his wife, Phyllis Shtab, 81, were also transported to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where Mr. Schtab was treated and released. Mrs. Schtab succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on Dec. 26.

According to a 2020 Asbury Park Press report, the Shtabs were en route to a Christmas Eve dinner when the collision happened.

"This isn't just a name in the news article, this isn't just Phyllis Shtab, 81, of Howell New Jersey," granddaughter Megan Shtab told News12. "This is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend and aunt and so many more amazing things. This is a real human soul."

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Alcazar-Sanchez on Dec. 30, 2020, charging him with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended driver’s license while being involved in a motor vehicle accident resulting in death.

Alcazar-Sanchez’s girlfriend, Reyna Mendez, 27, of Jackson, was later questioned by law enforcement in connection with the incident. Authorities determined that Mendez provided false information to Detectives during the course of her questioning and thus charged her with hindering apprehension or prosecution. Mendez was charged on a summons and released pending a future court date.

“I am extremely grateful for the cooperative efforts of our law enforcement partners at the local, county, state, and federal levels in connection with this very thorough and intensive investigation,” Prosecutor Billhimer stated. “Knowing full well that he was being relentlessly pursued by multiple law enforcement agencies for more than two months, Alcazar-Sanchez really had no alternative but to surrender himself to the authorities. Soon, he will be returned to Ocean County where he will face justice.”