A fourth arrest has been made in connection with the unsanctioned H2Oi car rally in Wildwood that killed two people and injured several others, officials said.
Joshua Bocchino, 19, of Long Branch, New Jersey, was identified as an individual sought for assaulting an officer at the rally on Sept. 24, 2022, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland and Chief Robert Regalbuto of the Wildwood Police Department said in a joint release.
Bocchino was arrested at his home without incident and transported to Wildwood. He was processed and charged with Aggravated Assault, Resisting Arrest and Obstruction of Justice, authorities said.
Bocchino was lodged in the Cape May County Correctional Facility pending Court proceedings, Sutherland and Regalbuto added.
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“We are continuing to review video footage and receive tips from the public to make sure we charge all the individuals who are identified as criminal actors during riotous and reckless events that took place during the weekend of September 24, 2022,” Sutherland said in a statement.
Authorities are still seeking assistance from the public in identifying a black Honda Accord and its driver who were involved in a serious car crash with a golf cart and then fled the scene on the night of the rally.
This Honda Accord has a distinct aftermarket tail light package and should have significant damage to the front passenger side quarter panel.
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Those who recognize the vehicle description are urged to contact the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at (609) 465-1135 or the Wildwood Police Department at 609-522-0222.
The deadly series of events happened around 9:30 p.m. between Burk and Atlantic avenues in Wildwood. Gerald J. White, 37, allegedly struck a 2014 Honda Civic and two pedestrians, authorities said.
The passenger in the Honda Civic, 34-year-old Timothy Ogden of Clayton, New Jersey, was rushed to Atlantic City Medical Center but authorities said he died a short time later.
“Tim was always a caring, fun person to be around and our family is heart broken and devastated," his relatives said in a statement. "He was the kind of person that could make anyone laugh.“
"Timothy was attending the Irish festival and was not a participant in this H2Oi event," loved ones said on a GoFundMe site. "Timothy’s entire family is absolutely heartbroken."
One of the pedestrians, 18-year-old Lindsay Weakland of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, died at the scene, the prosecutor's office stated.
A third victim remained in the trauma unit after she suffered injuries in the crash, family members told NBC10.
Prosecutors said White was charged with two counts of second-degree Death by Auto, a count of second-degree Eluding, and nearly a dozen other related charges.
White was being held in the Cape May County Correctional Facility pending court proceedings. Other charges may be added, officials said.
"We called the police," said Mary Sclafani, who was visiting Wildwood. "They barricaded the street, and the people just took the barricades and threw them. It was totally havoc, I was worried for the police."
A second crash occurred involving a golf cart with injuries, but additional details were unavailable at the time of the incident, the prosecutor's office said.
"Make no mistake that the tragic and dangerous events over the last several days in Wildwood, Rio Grande, Seaville and surrounding communities are a direct result of the organizers of a pop-up car rally self-identified as H2Oi or H2O22," Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said in a release. "Directing hundreds if not thousands of people driving high performance vehicles to an area without any planning, staging or permitting created the chaos that led to these deaths and injuries."
