Brick teens sentenced to juvie for starting fire that shut down Garden State Parkway

Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read
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TOMS RIVER - Two Brick teens who started a fire that forced the Garden State Parkway to close for 10 hours last year, have been sentenced to 60 days in the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center and will be on probation for three years, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced Monday.

The juveniles must also pay $15,000 in restitution — split evenly between them — complete 50 hours of community service and participate in an education program about arson, according to the statement from the Prosecutor’s Office. Both have pleaded guilty to arson and criminal mischief.

How we got here: Garden State Parkway in Brick closed in both directions due to brush fire

While the matter was adjudicated in late 2022, public release of the case’s resolution was delayed after the Prosecutor’s Office went to court in an effort to make the identities of the teens public. However, the lawyers for the teens objected and the court ultimately ruled in favor of keeping their full names under seal. Instead, the court allowed the Prosecutor’s Office to release their initials: I. J., 15, and A.R., 14.

The teens have admitted to deliberately setting a discarded Christmas tree ablaze inside a drainage culvert that runs from east to west beneath the Parkway, between the north entrance ramp and the south exit ramp at milepost 91, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

The fire during the evening commute on Jan. 19, 2022, forced authorities to shut down both the southbound and northbound lanes, paralyzing rush hour traffic throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. The conflagration also caused extensive damage.

More: Two juveniles charged with arson in fire that closed Garden State Parkway for 10 hours

Assistant Prosecutor Iva Krasteva represented the state of New Jersey in the case.

The New Jersey State Police, Brick Police Department and state Department of Transportation investigated the fire.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Garden State Parkway fire: Brick teens sentenced to juvenile detention