Police look for witnesses to pedestrian’s death The ‘coupon king’ is mourned by many vets BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer An elderly Shore Acres man was killed recently when he was struck by a car while trying to cross Hooper Avenue near the Kennedy Mall, police said. William H. Reeves, 77, died at Ocean Medical Center, Brick, from head injuries a little more than an hour after the Dec. 13 accident, police said. Reeves was attempting to cross the west side of the highway in the area of the Outback Steakhouse when the accident occurred at 9:05 p.m. Robert Tuzenew, 27, of Brick, was traveling south on Hooper Avenue in the left-hand lane when his 1994 Saturn struck Reeves, police said. Reeves was thrown onto the hood of the car from the force of the impact. Tuzenew’s car traveled approximately 100 feet south after the crash, police said. No charges have been filed against Tuzenew, but the accident is still under investigation, said Patrolman Jay Lampiasi, of the police department’s Traffic Safety Bureau. According to Lampiasi, Tuzenew told police that there were several cars on the highway at the time of the accident. “[But] we have zero witnesses,” he said. “It’s pretty terrible that no one came forth so far.” Reeves was wearing a black jacket and brown pants at the time of the accident. “[Tuzenew] didn’t see [Reeves] until he hit him,” Lampiasi said. Traffic in the area was detoured for roughly two hours after the accident. Anyone who may have been a witness should call Patrolman Lampiasi at (732) 262-1141. Reeves devoted much of his time to veterans’ causes. He was a trustee of the Brick Township Memorial Post 348 American Legion, said Robert LaRocca, a past post commander. “That’s all that was on his mind,” LaRocca said. “That’s all he did.” According to LaRocca, Reeves was as hard a worker as you could possibly find, not only with the American Legion, but also for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), splitting his time between both places. His friends at the American Legion were puzzled as to why Reeves would cross a busy highway in the dark. Reeves had attended an American Legion meeting shortly before the accident, he said. “We couldn’t understand it,” LaRocca said. “It’s not lit up. They don’t do 35 [mph]. It’s a dangerous road.” Every Sunday, Reeves’ American Legion friends would bring their newspapers to him so he could take advantage of the coupons, he said. “He would spend hours cutting out the stuff and then go shopping,” LaRocca said. “That was his pet project — food for the vets. Anything anybody asked him to do for the veterans he would do without hesitation. I don’t know who is going to pick up from him now.” Reeves, who served in the U.S. Navy for four years on the USS Charles H. Roan DD-853, was active in a number of veterans’ causes. The Vetwork Program honored him in August for personally donating 3 tons of food. “It would be like 40 cases a month on the average,” said Paul Kozak, the Vetwork director of the Lanoka Harbor-based program. “We called him the coupon king. He’d have receipts from $8 to $12 or less.” Kozak first met Reeves when he had to give a presentation to the American Legion. “He came up to me after the meeting and asked what he could do,” Kozak said. “Not only did he give us food, [but] he was always promoting what we did. He was hands-on.” Reeves was a member of the Tin Can Sailors of the National Association of Destroyer Veterans and also belonged to VFW Post 8867, the American Legion and the Elks Lodge, all of Brick. He was predeceased in 1990 by his wife of 33 years, Elena Mary Cangelosi Reeves. Surviving are four daughters and a son-in-law, Elaine Reeves of Brookline, Mass., Kathleen Reeves of Pleasantville, Colleen Reeves of New York City, and Maureen and Joseph Liddy of Spring Lake; and three grandsons, Joseph, Matthew and Michael Liddy.