A Northfield man charged in a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian in Absecon was released from jail.
Mathew Cademartori, 24, allegedly had several drinks before striking Talmadge Franklin, who was walking east along the White Horse Pike early Jan. 8.
The 67-year-old Absecon man died at the scene.
Franklin was struck with such force that the passenger side mirror broke off and was left at the scene, Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Robinson said.
That piece of evidence led police to Cademartori, who is shown in video surveillance leaving the Hi-Point Pub in the truck. He is also seen consuming several beers and stumbling as he left, according to the charges.
Cademartori not only didn’t stop after he struck Franklin but failed to even anonymously call for help or notify anyone that someone was injured, Robinson said, arguing that his alleged actions that day proved he is a flight risk.
The point of the detention hearing is not to litigate what happened that day, defense attorney Steven Scheffler argued. Instead, it is determined whether there is a risk that Cademartori would fail to appear, commit another crime or obstruct the process.
The 40 character letters sent to the court painting him as a kind, helpful, courteous, and caring person who has volunteered his time with veterans indicates zero chance of those, Scheffler said.
He is a lifetime Atlantic County resident, having grown up in Somers Point and graduated St. Augustine Prep. He moved to Northfield to live with his father after his mother’s sudden death in January 2020, Scheffler said.
The attorney called Cademartori a “poster child for bail reform,” which was meant to take financial resources out of the equation and determine pretrial release based upon risk factors.
Superior Court Judge Dorothy Garrabrant agreed that the state did not prove a need to hold Cademartori. She did, however, place more oversight on him than the public safety assessment recommended.
He must check in with the court twice a month and in-person twice a month, cannot be out of the home from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily, cannot leave the state, and must refrain from alcohol and drugs.
Cademartori is charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash.
NOTE: The Atlantic County Justice Facility is barred from releasing mugshots under an order by the former county prosecutor.
