Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on September 27, Miguel Angel-Villegas, 31, of New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced to fourteen years in State Prison as a result of a previously entered guilty plea to Attempted Murder in connection with a shooting incident that occurred in Tuckerton on November 21, 2019.
Additionally, Angel-Villegas was sentenced to five years in State Prison as a result of a previously entered guilty plea to Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution.
The sentences will run concurrently. Angel-Villegas pled guilty to both charges on August 13.
According to Prosecutor Billhimer, on November 21, 2019, a Tuckerton Borough Police Officer performed a lawful stop on a motor vehicle in which Angel-Villegas was a passenger. During the stop, the vehicle pulled away at a very high speed and collided with another vehicle.
Prosecutor Billhimer said that Angel-Villegas exited the vehicle, pulled out a firearm and began firing at the Officer.
According to Prosecutor Billhimer, Angel-Villegas subsequently fled on foot. They were apprehended later the same evening by the United States Marshals Service and members of the New York City Police Department - just outside of Penn Station, New York City.
A subsequent investigation by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit revealed that Angel-Villegas ordered his then-girlfriend - the driver of the vehicle - to provide the Tuckerton Police Officer with a fictitious name due to his belief that he was wanted on a parole violation out of the State of Connecticut, and then forced her to speed away from the Officer during the motor vehicle stop.
Angel-Villegas has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since his return to New Jersey.