Politics & Government

Jay Marles Remembered As Police Unity Tour Perseveres Through Downpour

Roughly 250 officers pedaled into Ocean Gate to pay tribute to Patrolman Jason Marles

Sleep doesn't come easy for Patricia Engrassia.

It hasn't since 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving 2010, when she got the call that her much-loved son, had been killed by a drunken driver on the Garden State Parkway.

Engrassia sat in her Ford SUV in front of the Ocean Gate police headquarters this morning trying to hold back tears and not succeeding.

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"I don't know if I can go in there," she said.

She watched the heavy rain stream down her windshield. She waited for the Police Unity Tour to arrive in this tiny town on the Toms River to honor her son.

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"He could disarm you with a smile," Engrassia said. "He was just a wonderful, caring guy. A wonderful father. He was my buddy. Everyone says keep your faith. How do you keep your faith, when God took such a wonderful person?"

Jay Marles, 32, had just gotten off the night shift and was on his way home on the Garden State Parkway near the Toms River toll plaza when his Jeep was rear-ended by a BMW SUV driven by Erick Uzcategui of Manchester.

The force of the impact pushed the Jeep across the traffic lanes, off the roadway and into some woods, where it burst into flames.

The young police officer's last shift for the Ocean Gate Police Department was a drunken driving detail. The man charged with his death had a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit at the time of the accident. Uzcategui told police he had five vodka drinks and used cocaine at a Seaside Heights motel before the accident

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s  Office later charged him with vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving. Uzcategui has pleaded not guilty.

Patricia Engrassia had something to say to Uzcategui during a court proceeding.

"I handed him a picture of my son and his two kids," she recalled today. "I said 'I want you to look at this. I want to know if you are sorry.' "

Closure? There is no closure for Engrassia or for Sheldon Marles, Jay's father.

"He was a wonderful guy," his father said. "He was a friend to everyone."

And that's as far as he got before he choked up.

Marles' two children, Taryn and Landon, stood at the entrance to the police department with their mother Virginia Marles.

"The kids are doing better than they were before," she said. "My kids go to therapy every week. My son is a work in progress, but we are working through it."

The Police Unity Tour - which began in Howell Township Wednesday morning - was delayed by a motorcycle breakdown and heavy rains as the bikers pedaled down Ocean Gate Drive and into Ocean Gate.

Berkeley Township Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele, Ocean Gate Police Chief Reece J. Fisher, Ocean Gate Mayor Paul Kennedy, Berkeley Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. and Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford huddled under umbrellas as the riders came into sight.

Fisher paid homage to Marles and what he meant to Ocean Gate.

"Jay always liked the water," he joked, nodding to the rain-soaked riders.

Tour members paused in front of the police department, rain dripping off their helmets and jackets. They watched quietly as Chapter 2 tour leader Capt. Andrew Cheney of the Jackson Township Police Department presented Engrassia and Virginia Marles with gold roses.

"All right, guys," one officer yelled. "Ready to roll."

Then they slowly made their way back to Route 9 South and headed to the Bayville firehouse for lunch and a visit with Berkeley Township elementary school students.

Hundreds of police officers are biking 300 miles to Washington, D.C. in the annual Police Unity Tour to remember those familiar names and the names of all law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

"We Ride For Those Who Died," is the tour's motto. Its purpose is twofold- to raise awareness of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, and to raise funds for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Museum.

Chapter 2 of the tour includes officers from the Ocean and Monmouth areas. This year Berkeley Township has three officers making the ride - Detective Lt. Curtis Drumhiller, Sgt. Kevin Santucci and Patrolman Robert Flanegan.


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