No charges for NJ homeowner who put teen burglar in coma

BRIDGEWATER — No charges have been brought against a Bradley Gardens home owner in connection with a July incident that left a township teenager bedridden and nonverbal.

The teenagers — Douglas Uhler, 18, of Vanderveer Road, and Brian Johnston, 18, of Chestnut Street — were indicted Wednesday by a Somerset County grand jury on third-degree burglary charges for their role in the incident on Linden Street.

The incident began at about 3:39 a.m. July 31 when police got a 911 call from a resident reporting a fight. The responding officers saw Uhler and Johnston lying in Linden Street with Uhler unresponsive, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano said.

Officers immediately began CPR and Uhler was taken to Somerset Medical Center in Somerville and later transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick with a brain injury due to a lack of oxygen after being put into a submission hold, Soriano said. He has been released from the hospital but remains nonresponsive, Soriano said.

The incident began when an unnamed 42-year-old Oak Street resident and his wife were awakened by the horn of their vehicle, the prosecutor said.

The homeowner and his wife got up, looked out a window, saw the teenagers by the car, then went outside. When the teenagers started to run, the homeowner and his wife chased them. The homeowner caught up with Johnston, who squared off in front of the homeowner with his hand raised in a fist. The homeowner knocked Johnston to the ground with one punch, Soriano said.

Then Uhler ran from the nearby bushes, yelling "do you want a piece of me (expletive)?" and jumped on the homeowner, Soriano said.

In the struggle with Uhler, the homeowner put the teenager into a submission hold, which led to the loss of oxygen, the prosecutor said.

Johnston was arrested at the scene after police found him in possession of items taken from the car, Soriano said.

The grand jury also considered potential charges against the homeowner, but no charges were brought, Soriano said.

SOURCE: WWW.MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM

I wish the kid wasn't in a coma, but no charges should be brought against the homeowner imo.