A teenager using a fake ID who drove drunk in Ocean County, hit a motorcyclist and left the scene of the crash was sentenced Monday to nearly two years in prison, authorities announced Wednesday.
Yesmin Sanchez-Centeno, 18, of Toms River, who was 17 at the time of the crash, was sentenced to 20 months in the custody of the Juvenile Justice Commission. A judge also imposed fines and penalties and ordered his license to be suspended for two years, according a release from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Aug. 3, 2023, Sanchez-Centeno was driving a Nissan Murano and was pulling onto Route 37 in Manchester when he failed to yield to a motorcycle in the next lane, the office said. The driver of the motorcycle, Jeffrey Schlinger, 23, of Toms River, couldn’t avoid a collision and struck the rear passenger side door of the Nissan.
Schlinger suffered serious injuries from the collision, investigators said. First responders transported him to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where he later died.
Sanchez-Centeno kept driving on Route 37 after the crash until his car became inoperable, officials said. He then allegedly exited the car and fled on foot into a wooded area nearby. Police eventually found him and administered sobriety tests, all of which he failed.
He was then transported to Community Medical Center, where medical staff administered a blood draw, the office said. Afterward, he was transported to Ocean County Jail, and was later taken to the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center once investigators learned that he was not 22 as his fake ID showed. He has been held there since that time.
He was charged on Aug. 4 with vehicular homicide, strict liability vehicular homicide, knowingly leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in a death and being an unlicensed driver involved in a crash resulting in a death, authorities said. As a result of providing a false ID to police, he was additionally charged with hindering apprehension and giving false information to law enforcement.
Sanchez-Centeno later pleaded guilty to knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, strict liability vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the release.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
