Man sentenced for hit-and-run that left 12-year-old boy seriously injured in Somerset County
WATCHUNG BOROUGH, NJ (Somerset County) – A Union County man has been sentenced to five years in state prison for a hit-and-run crash that left a 12-year-old boy seriously injured, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Michael Robertson.
Bryant D. Eggleston, 51, of Plainfield was sentenced on July 8 to a term of five years in State prison with eighteen months of parole ineligibility on charges of third-degree leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in serious bodily injury, third-degree endangering an injured victim, fourth-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution, and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence. He was also sentenced on motor vehicle summonses for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, and failure to report an accident. He entered a guilty plea to these crimes on May 10, 2021, Robertson said.
On October 8, 2019 at around 6:50 p.m. Watchung police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a pedestrian struck on Valley Road by a motor vehicle which fled from the scene. Responding officers located a 12-year-old boy with serious bodily injuries resulting from being struck by a motor vehicle, Robertson said.
Responding Watchung officers along with medical personnel provided emergency aid to the victim who was transported to a trauma center for emergency treatment. The boy did survive, Robertson said.
Investigators from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Collision Analysis reconstruction Team (CART) along with Watchung Police Detectives responded to conduct the investigation.
As a result of a fifteen month investigation into the hit and run the investigation revealed that a white 2013 Hyundai Sonata, was the vehicle involved which struck the 12-year-old boy. A subsequent follow up investigation resulted in the identification of the vehicle’s owner and operator at the time of the crash as Eggleston, who fled the motor vehicle accident scene immediately after the collision with the pedestrian, Robertson said.
On Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Watchung Police detectives assigned to the investigation located and arrested Eggleston without incident at his residence in Plainfield, Robertson said.
