Funeral Services Set For Lakewood Teen Killed When Car Hit House

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Funeral services have been set for a 16-year-old from Lakewood who died Monday when he was thrown from a car that crashed into a house on Cedar Bridge Road.

Volodimir "Vova" Vlasyuk, 16, was identified by Lakewood School District officials as the teen who died in the crash that happened about 9:30 p.m. Monday.

"The family shared that they would love to have students and staff attend the service, as it would mean a lot to them," said Michael Inzelbuch, the Lakewood Board of Education attorney, who shared obituary information for Vlasyuk, who was a student at Lakewood High School. The school district is offering grief counseling for staff and students in the wake of his death.

Volodimir was born in the Ukraine and had lived in Lakewood since 2014, according to his obituary on the website of Koschek and Porter Funeral Home, which is handling the arrangements.

He is survived by his parents, Tetyana and Aleks Vlasyuk; his brother, Anton; paternal grandparents, Levgenia and Anatoliy Vlasyuk; maternal grandfather, Oleksandr Miroshnichenko; paternal great-grandmother, Zoya Vlasyuk; several aunts, uncles and cousins in Ukraine and his faithful feline companion, Lockslay.

Visitation is set to begin at 6 p.m. Friday at St. George's Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 839 Yardville Allentown Road, Yardville, with a Panahida service at 7 p.m. Visitors will be welcomed until the time of the funeral service, set for 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at the church. The Very Rev. Petro Levko is set to officiate. Burial will be in St. Vladimir's Russian Orthodox Cemetery, Jackson.

Inzelbuch said donations are being collected to help the family. Donations can be made at any of the district's schools and should be sent to the attention of Omaida Segui by Monday, July 12.

Authorities said the unidentified teen driver of a 2009 Infiniti G37 had two passengers, Hector Martinez, 18, of Toms River, and the second teen, now identified as Vlasyuk, who was in the back seat.

They were headed east on Cedar Bridge Avenue "at a high rate of speed" when they came upon an unidentified vehicle in the left-turn lane that was trying to turn left on Clover Street, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The teen driving the Infiniti tried to navigate around the vehicle turning left and in doing so lost control of the car, which left the road and hit the front of a building, then rolled over and came to rest on its roof and hood.

Vlasyuk was thrown from the car and died at the scene. The teen driver, who has not been identified due to his age, and Martinez, both were injured.

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