Crime & Safety

Former Township Employee Charged With DWI After Fatal Accident

Anthony Briffa, a skateboarder, was struck by Patrick Doyle's vehicle

A former employee of Brick Township is facing a number of motor vehicle-related charges following an accident that claimed the life of a township teenager on May 11.

Patrick Doyle, 53, is charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, making an unsafe lane change and driving an unregistered vehicle, according to Deputy Chief Michael Mohel of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. Doyle's vehicle, which was traveling in the southbound lane of Jordan Road, struck Anthony Briffa, 19, who was riding a skateboard.

An initial investigation showed that Briffa may have been riding near the shoulder, but in a lane of traffic, at the time of the accident according to a previous statement from Capt. Thomas Hayes, also of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

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Emergency personnel on the scene pronounced Briffa dead at 10:35 p.m. that night, Hayes said at the time.

Mohel said Tuesday that the investigation into the accident is still ongoing. The accident was initially investigated by the Prosecutor's Office, Ocean County Sheriff's Department and the Toms River Police Department because Doyle was employed by the township as a part-time public relations worker at the time of the accident. Brick Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said Tuesday that Doyle has since resigned from that position.

Find out what's happening in Brickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The prosecutor's office is now handling the case, Mohel said.


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