Assault by auto charge nets three-year probation

On Aug. 6, Robert Bayly, 20, of Cape Coral, Fla., was sentenced to a three-year term of probation for the third degree crime of assault by auto.

This charge pertains to a 2006 motor vehicle collision which occurred in Howell. Bayly resided in Howell at the time of the crash.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Bayly pled guilty to that charge, as well as to the motor vehicle violation of being an unlicensed driver, before state Superior Court Judge Francis P. DeStefano on May 27 in Freehold.

Bayly was scheduled to have been sentenced on July 24, but he failed to appear in court on that date and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Bayly was arrested on the bench warrant on July 30. He was held at the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, from that date until he was sentenced on Aug. 6.

According to a press release, at about 10:04 p.m. on May 30, 2006, officers from the Howell Police Department responded to the vicinity of the intersection of Lakewood Allenwood Road and Arnold Boulevard in Howell.

Upon arrival, they found a 2002 Nissan Altima in the middle of Lakewood-Allenwood Road with significant contact damage. Bayly was observed walking away from the vehicle as the police arrived.

A second individual, later determined to have been the front seat passenger, who sustained non-life threatening injuries in the crash, was standing outside of the vehicle screaming for help. A third individual, who sustained life-threatening injuries, was trapped in the rear passenger area of the vehicle.

Police and emergency personnel extricated the rear seat victim, a 19-year-old resident of Howell, who was immediately transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune. He was later transferred to the Brain Trauma Unit of JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute at the JFK Medical Center in Edison.

As a result of the accident, the victim suffers from severe, permanent traumatic brain injury, according to the press release.

An investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, in conjunction with the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team and the Howell Police Department, revealed that Bayly was operating the Altima in a westerly direction on Lakewood Allenwood Road, in excess of the posted 50 mph speed limit, when he encountered a second motor vehicle traveling in the same direction.

While attempting to pass that vehicle, Bayly lost control of his vehicle, which traveled into and across the eastbound lane, struck a utility pole, and then rotated repeatedly before coming to its final resting place.

The investigation further revealed that the three occupants of Bayly's vehicle, all of whom were below the minimum age for the legal consumption of alcohol in New Jersey, had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to entering the motor vehicle.

The investigation additionally revealed that Bayly was operating the motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content in excess of the statutory 0.08 percent legal limit. The investigation additionally revealed that Bayly had never been licensed to operate a motor vehicle.

In addition to the probationary period imposed on the assault by auto charge, DeStefano ordered Bayly to pay $200 a month in restitution and suspended Bayly's right to obtain a driver's license for a period of one year, and for an additional two years, consecutively, as part of the sentence for the unlicensed driver charge.

New Jersey law contains a statutory presumption that a defendant who is being sentenced for a third degree or fourth degree crime receive a probationary sentence if he has not previously been convicted of a crime, according to the information provided by the prosecutor's office.