A Lakewood man has pleaded guilty in two major cases stemming from an eluding incident in 2024 and a high-speed crash in 2025, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
On December 1, 2025, Edwin Ramirez-Carranza, 21, admitted before Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch to Eluding in connection with an October 8, 2024 incident in Lakehurst. He also pled guilty to Aggravated Assault for an April 19, 2025 motor vehicle crash in Lakewood Township. At sentencing on January 30, 2026, the State will seek five years in New Jersey State Prison for the Eluding charge and five years — subject to the No Early Release Act — for the Aggravated Assault charge. The terms would run concurrently. Ramirez-Carranza will also plead guilty to Underage Driving While Intoxicated.
According to investigators, Lakehurst Police officers witnessed a three-car crash on Route 70 on October 8, 2024. All three vehicles attempted to flee. Officers tried stopping a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ramirez-Carranza, who instead took off, ignoring police commands. The vehicle eventually became disabled in traffic, where officers found Ramirez-Carranza showing signs of intoxication. He failed field sobriety tests, and breath testing showed a BAC above the legal limit for an underage driver. He was arrested, processed, and released under New Jersey Bail Reform guidelines.
The second incident occurred on April 19, 2025 around 12:10 a.m., when Lakewood Police responded to New Hampshire Avenue and Cedar Bridge Avenue for a crash with serious injuries. Investigators determined Ramirez-Carranza was driving a Chevy Silverado northbound on New Hampshire Avenue at approximately 106 mph when he ran a red light and struck a Honda Civic driven by an off-duty Lakewood police officer who had just finished his shift. The officer was hospitalized with serious injuries and later released. Ramirez-Carranza was also hospitalized and later charged with Aggravated Assault and multiple motor vehicle offenses. He has remained in the Ocean County Jail since April 20, 2025.