Prosecutor: 28-Year-Old Man Gets Prison Time for 2021 Drug-Related Fatal Crash

A 28-year-old Monmouth County man has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in state prison on vehicular homicide charges stemming from the death of an 82-year-old man in a June 2021 drug-related motor vehicle collision, Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Julia Alonso and Wall Township Police Chief Sean O’Halloran jointly announced on Tuesday.

Nolan T. Dickson, 28, must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), in accordance with the terms set down during a hearing late last week before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn.

The case background …

At approximately 10:09 a.m. on Sunday, June 27, 2021, Wall Township police responded to the area of Route 35 and Lakewood Road on a report of a head-on motor vehicle collision involving three vehicles.

There, police officers found 82-year-old Paul Yuro, of Brick Township, trapped inside his vehicle. Yuro was extricated from his vehicle and transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he later died as a result of the injuries he had sustained.

An investigation led by Wall Township police and members of the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART), determined that Dickson was driving his 2017 BMW 430i south on Route 35 when he entered the northbound lane and struck the 2013 Toyota Camry being driven by Yuro.

The thorough investigation revealed that when the accident occurred, Dickson was on his way home from a casino in Atlantic City, where he had ingested oxycodone, alprazolam, codeine, and marijuana.

On Monday, May 8, 2023, after authorities consulted with the victim’s family, Dickson pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of vehicular homicide, to be treated as a third-degree offense for the purposes of sentencing.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office