Person of Interest Sought in Berlin Hit & Run

In Berlin, New Jersey, police are looking for a driver who ran over a man then kept on going.

The police were dispatched at approximately 7:24 p.m. on Friday, January 29 the area of Tansboro Road and Gardens Avenue in Berlin Borough for a motor vehicle crash involving a pedestrian.

The victim, John Hayes, 55, of Atco, had been struck by a minivan while crossing Tansboro Road.

The driver of the minivan stopped and remained at the scene. While Hayes was on the roadway, he was struck by a second vehicle, which fled south on Tansboro Road and turned onto Berlin-New Freedom Road. Hayes was airlifted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he succumbed to his injuries and died later that night.

The suspect's vehicle is described a dark colored sedan with New Jersey license plates. Detectives believe the vehicle may be a mid-2000s Nissan Sentra.

During the investigation, police obtained surveillance video footage showing the suspect's vehicle traveling on the South White Horse Pike near the New Berlin Diner shortly before the crash.

Police also obtained surveillance video footage that shows a vehicle matching that description parking in the lot of the Golden Nugget Tavern located on Berlin-New Freedom Road around 7:30 p.m. and a man then entering the bar. Detectives would like to speak with this man.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Camden County Prosecutor's Office Detective Doug Rowand at (856) 225-8514 or Berlin Borough Police Det. Sgt. Mike Scheer at (856) 767-4700, ext. 161.