Bayville man pleads guilty to 2018 violent carjacking of 20-year-old woman in Lakewood
A Bayville man accused in the violent carjacking of a woman in Lakewood in December 2018 and who avoided detection for two years has admitted to the crime, authorities said.
John C. Bailey, 35, of the Bayville section of Berkeley, linked to the crime through DNA evidence obtained from blood stains on the vehicle, pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking Wednesday before Ocean County Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said it will be seeking a 25-year prison term at Bailey’s sentencing scheduled for Aug. 12.
On Dec. 5, 2018, the victim, a 20-year-old woman, was sitting in her car near Route 9 and Liberty Drive when a man came up and asked for directions and then a ride, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement.
The young woman gave the man directions but declined to give him a ride. He returned shortly after and smashed the glass on the driver’s side window of the silver 2018 Hyundai Sonata, Billhimer said.
The man got into the Sonata, sat on the woman, choked her and wrested control of the car from her, Billhimer said.
The man drove off with her trapped inside and threatened to kill her if she didn’t keep quiet, the prosecutor said.
The woman managed to jump out of the passenger side while the car was moving and ran to a home on Hearth Court in Lakewood. She suffered a bite to her leg, a laceration on her head and wounds on her neck, and was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, Billhimer said.
The Sonata was found later that day abandoned in Jackson with blood stains on the rear driver’s side door and quarter panel.
In the courts: Jackson man's deadly stabbing during fight captured on video
In June 2020, the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences told Ocean County that Bailey’s DNA possibly matched the DNA profile obtained from the blood stain on the vehicle. In October 2020, a court-ordered swab was taken from Bailey. And on Jan. 4, 2021, the State Police said it matched the DNA profile from the stain and the bite on the victim’s leg, Billhimer said.
Bailey was charged with carjacking on Jan. 5, 2021, and entered into the National Crime Information Center as a wanted person.
He was found three weeks later in Perth Amboy by Ocean County Sheriff’s officers and U.S. marshals.
He has been held in Ocean County Jail since his arrest.
Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news, investigations and local issues. Reach him at kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bayville NJ man pleads guilty to violent Lakewood carjacking
