Year in review: July 2015

Toni Marletta
photo via facebook

Marissa Procopio, 15, of Atlantic Highlands was struck and killed on July 7 by a hit and run driver on Rt 36 in the Leonardo section of Middletown. Toni Ann Marletta, 49, of Leonardo was arrested and charged with Leaving the Scene of a Fatal Accident, No Insurance, and other Motor Vehicle offenses on July 15. Marletta was released from the custody of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on August 4 after Judge Francis Vernoia allowed her to post 10% of her 150,000 bail. She remains free on bail pending trial.

The Procopio family filed a wrongful death suit against Marletta in December.

Leo Cervantes, the owner of Chilango’s Mexican Restaurant in Highlands and LaPlaya in Keansburg, was surprised to see himself featured in Governor Chris Christie’s first television commercial of the 2016 GOP presidential race. Cervantes was part of Christie’s Hispanic outreach in the 2013 gubernatorial campaign, but said he never heard from the presidential campaign and that he has not decided who to support for president.

When Donald Trump launched his presidential bid with disparaging remarks about Mexicans, Cervantes threw a Cinco de Donald Day at his restaurants. Drink specials included Harve’ Climb over the Wall Banger and the Tequila Comb-Over.