A shots-fired incident that led to a vehicular police pursuit yielding an arrest and the recovery of two handguns remains under active investigation, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Tuesday.
Shortly after 7:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, Asbury Park Police Department patrol units responding to gunfire coming from the 10 block of Atkins Avenue spotted a vehicle leaving the area and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The vehicle subsequently crashed less than a mile away, in the area of Washington Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in neighboring Neptune.
Two occupants of the crashed vehicle, a 15-year-old male and 33-year-old Justin Mayes-Wiggs of Neptune, attempted to leave the scene on foot but were quickly located. The other two occupants of the vehicle were seriously injured and transported to a local hospital; one has since been pronounced dead, while the other remains in critical condition. The juvenile was also transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries, and his involvement remains under investigation.
Mayes-Wiggs has since been criminally charged with two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, second-degree certain persons not to possess weapons, and obstruction of justice, a disorderly persons offense, after which he was lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution pending a first appearance to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.
The circumstances of the vehicular police pursuit are being investigated by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. The investigation into the shooting incident, as well as the investigation into the recovery of the two handguns, is being handled by the Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Anyone with information about either of the latter two matters is being asked to contact MCPO Detective Christopher Guy at 800-533-7443 or Asbury Park Police Department Detective Dillon Gourley at 732-774-1300.
