Man on horse helps police catch hit-and-run suspect in small NJ town

Man on horse helped solve a hit-and-run investigation in New Jersey

The Good Samaritan rode on his horse to get the suspect’s license plate.

RIVERSIDE, N.J. - His horse may not be white, and he may not be a knight, but this Good Samaritan still galloped in to save the day.

What we know:

A woman called the police after she heard a loud crash outside her Riverside home and saw a vehicle fleeing the scene, leaving her parked car with damage.

That's when a man named PJ appeared atop his horse, saying that he witnessed the crash.

He and his horse sidekick "Shiny" went after the vehicle to get a partial license plate number.

Man on horse helps catch hit-and-run driver in Riverside Twp.

Horsing' around turned into a heroic action in Riverside Township Tuesday after a man named PJ and his horse, Shiny, assisted police in catching a hit-and-run suspect.

Police, in the small Burlington County town, used that information to identify the suspect, and took 22-year-old Italo Lalvay Guaillasaca into custody a short time later.

Guaillasaca was charged with Careless Driving, Driving without a License, Failure to Report an Accident and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.  

What they're saying:

"I ended up seeing this car turn the corner and hit an old lady’s car. Cracked the car up, look me dead in my eyes and pulled off," says Pasquale Mucciolo, the Good Samaritan on horseback.

"I knew they weren’t going to stop. I already knew that, that’s why I was ready to go and get the tag. I don’t know what they thought. The horse wasn’t going to catch them, but it did," says Mucciolo.

A bizarre situation that is still puzzling for the responding officers of the incident.

"We are a small town, we deal with a lot, try to be proactive as much as possible but that was a first, that was a shocker for me honestly," said responding officer, Officer Kevinn Tosta, of the Riverside Police Department.

One thing’s for sure, the streets are just a little bit safer thanks to PJ and Shiny. 

"A lot of times people are always like, ‘Oh I’m not gonna call, somebody else might have,’ but the fact that he called us and was able to help us with that - I hope more people come forward and think like, ‘Oh I might be somebody on a horse, but I can make a difference too,’ so it was really cool to see," said responding officer, Officer Jasmine Vaccaro.