By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven Councilman Jerome Koch died Sunday, one day after he was was critically injured in a bicycling accident on River Road.
Borough police reported Koch’s passing in a one-paragraph statement issued at 7 p.m.
Koch, was riding westbound near Elm Place when he was struck by a vehicle headed in the same direction at about 3:25 p.m., police said.
Mayor Ben Lucarelli told NJ.com that Koch had been riding around picking up litter when Lucarelli and other members of a cycling club passed Koch a short while before the accident.
Koch was taken by helicopter to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, where he died, police said.
Neither police nor Lucarelli identified the driver, a woman who was traveling with her daughter, or her town of residence. The police statement said the accident was under investigation by Sergeant Robert Hunter and Officer Brooks Robinon, with the help of the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team.
Lucarelli declined comment on whether Koch had been wearing a helmet.
The accident occurred just a half-mile east of the scene of a fatal crash during the 2013 running of the Tour de Fair Haven series of bicycle races. Shrewsbury resident Cole Porter, 38, died of his injuries two weeks later.
Koch, a retiree who has served on the council since 2006, lost his re-election bid to Democrat Aimee Humphreys earlier this month. His term ends on December 31.
