Parents plead for help finding suspect in crash
Two teens died after allegedly being cut off by dark Jeep Liberty
BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Clockwise from top: Mike and Jan Mustafa (from left), and Isabel and Ken Carness, listen as Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch discusses the investigation into the crash that claimed the lives of the Mustafas' son, Jon, and the Carnesses' daughter, Lesley. Jon Mustafa and Lesley Carness, as seen in a photograph placed at a memorial where their vehicle crashed on April 8. Mike and Jan Mustafa address reporters Friday. Ken and Isabel Carness speak about their daughter during the press conference.

EAST BRUNSWICK - The families of two teenagers killed in a car accident last April on Route 18 are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the driver believed to have caused the crash.

"We are pleading with the public and community to help us," said Michael Mustafa, whose son, Jon, 18, died in the Easter Sunday car accident along with Jon's girlfriend, Lesley Carness, 16, of East Brunswick.

The parents of both victims joined law enforcement officials at a press conference Friday at the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office in New Brunswick. Officials are continuing to seek information that would help find the driver and/or the passenger of a dark-colored Jeep Liberty believed to have cut off the victims' car, causing it to crash at 3:04 p.m. April 8.

At the time of the accident, Mustafa, an East Brunswick High School graduate who had moved to Mullica Hill, was driving a 1997 Honda Civic LX south on Route 18 with Carness, a junior at the high school, in the front passenger seat.

Mustafa had stopped in the left lane for a red light at Route 18 and West Ferris Street, and there was a light-colored vehicle in the center lane, and a dark Jeep Liberty in the right lane. When the light turned green, the Jeep overtook the vehicle in the center lane, and then abruptly moved to the left lane, cutting off Mustafa's Civic, according to the prosecutor's office. The Jeep driver then suddenly slammed on his brakes, prompting Mustafa to steer hard to the right to avoid a collision, authorities said.

Mustafa then lost control of the Honda, which went off the roadway near the entrance to the Village Green Shopping Center. The vehicle rotated, struck a curb and started rolling over, continuing until it struck a tree between the shopping center and Route 18.

Mustafa was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead shortly after the accident. Carness was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities are investigating the accident "as a possible road rage incident," since they believe the Jeep driver purposely hit his brakes.

Eyewitnesses told police the Jeep Liberty was being driven by a white male, with a white female passenger in the front seat. Both occupants were described as being their late 20s or early 30s.

Using witness accounts and images obtained from a video camera mounted on the nearby Columbia Savings Bank building, authorities determined that the Jeep had a rearmounted spare tire with white lettering across the tire cover, and light tan or beige New Jersey license plates. The first letter or number on the plates was "J," according to the prosecutor's office.

County investigators and East Brunswick police officers are in the process of checking the approximately 200 vehicles meeting that description. Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch said this process is "painstaking," but important.

"The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and the East Brunswick Police Department are committed to identifying the driver and passenger of the Jeep in question," Sewitch said in a press release. He said the state Motor Vehicle Commission and other law enforcement agencies are assisting in the investigation.

In the meantime, authorities hope people will come forward to help identify the driver and/or passenger of the Jeep, by calling Investigator John Dando at (732) 745-3300 or East Brunswick Patrolman Chris Soke at (732) 390-6969.

Sewitch said it is in the best interest of the two to come

forward rather than be found by police.

Any discussion of a motive for the accident would be "speculation," Sewitch said, but he does not believe that the victims did anything to precipitate the actions of the other driver. During the press conference, Sewitch noted it is not very common for a vehicle being cut off the way that Mustafa's was, but that "everyone in the room" has had it happen to them.

Michael Mustafa said the teenagers were "good kids" who had their entire lives ahead of them. He said his family wants some type of closure, and the apprehension of the suspect would help.

Isabel Carness, Lesley's mother, said there is no doubt in her mind that there are other witnesses, with Route 18 being such a heavily traveled road. She noted that the passenger of the Jeep especially should come forward as a witness.

Carness described her daughter as a "very vibrant young lady" who loved animals and enjoyed cooking.

"We miss her very, very much, so if anyone can help us, please," she said.

Michael Mustafa said his son was a compassionate young man.

"We just miss him," he said. "They were minding their own business, going down the road."