Teen Accused of Car Burglary Dies After Months Suffering From Injuries in Confrontation With Victim

Whenever things were too quiet, he used to sing “In the Jungle” in a deep voice to lighten the mood.

And he was a passionate football player with the  team, playing for four years before graduating in 2010.

But died Sunday, more than eight months after sustaining a brain injury when he got into a fight with the owner of a vehicle he allegedly was attempting to burglarize in town.

“Doug was a kind-hearted kid who would go the extra mile for any of his friends,” said John Alicea, who graduated from the high school in 2010 with Uhler. “I played football with him for four years in high school, and this is where I really got to see the Doug Uhler that everybody loves.”

In December, a grand jury handed down a third-degree burglary indictment for 19-year-old Uhler, of Vanderveer Road, and Brian Johnston, 18, of Chestnut Street, in connection with an alleged burglary on Oak Street last summer. No charges have been filed against the Oak Street resident who allegedly placed Uhler in the choke hold.

Alicea said he did not have a chance to see his friend after the incident.

“With the incident happening too close to leaving for college, I did not get a chance to see him,” he said. “But I made sure I was updated either through my parents or my friends who went to local colleges.”

CJ Guarino, also a Bridgewater graduate, said he met Uhler when they were in fourth grade, and he did see his friend following the incident, visiting once while he was still in an induced coma.

"My close friends and I made it our obligation to go to the hospital to see him, but it was tough to see him in the condition he was in," Guarino said. "His face was red because of the blood vessels that had been popped. His face was cut up and he was bruised."

"It was hard to look at him," Guarino added. "At that point, the most movement he could do was squeeze his fingers and just listen to the outside world."

Guarino said it was difficult to visit once he started college in the fall because he was two hours away, but he still thought of Uhler.

"As soon as I started to hear it was getting worse for Doug, I started to get more upset, and it was hard for me to step into the loving Uhler household and see Doug at the time," Guarino said. 

But what Alicea said he will remember most about his friend was his passion for football.

“Coach Scott Bray preached to bring the “PHD” on the field—passion, hunger and desire,” Alicea said. “Doug not only brought this onto the football field, he brought it into every aspect of his life.”

“He lived as he played, a passionate player who wanted to compete and succeed at the highest level,” he added of the friend he met in first grade.

Alicea said he and Uhler used to get into constant fights on the football field as they tried to bring out the best in each other for the game.

“They would get intense enough that the whole team got involved, and the intensity level skyrocketed for the rest of the practice,” he said. “We knew we were friends, but we also knew how to bring the best out of each other on the field.”

“I know for a fact that if Doug never pushed me so hard in practice, I would have never excelled the way I did, and I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he added. “I am grateful for that.”

Guarino said he also played football with Uhler, and shared another special connection—their birthdays.

"Doug and I were born on the same day, Nov. 1, 1991," he said. "We would always call each other the 'ones' because of the date. It was something that we cherished."

Guarino said he lived down the street from Uhler, and they spent a lot of time together.

"Doug was the kind of person who wasn't so good with first impressions, but once you got to know him and really spent time with him, he's one of the best people you'll ever meet," he said. "People sometimes misjudged Doug, but that was because nobody got a chance to really know him."

But no matter what, Guarino said he was proud to have been friends with Uhler.

"It was a blessing to be involved in each other's lives," he said.

According to Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano, Bridgewater Township Police had responded to a report of a fight near Linden Street, where they found two males, later identified as Uhler and Johnston, lying in the road on July 31 at about 3:39 a.m.

Soriano said the 42-year-old male victim of an alleged attempted car burglary on Oak Street reported that the two men had broken into his vehicle and removed items from it.

The male victim and his wife were woken up by their car horn, and they noticed the interior light of the vehicle was activated, Soriano said. The man chased the two teens, Soriano said, and got into a fight with both of them, first knocking Johnston to the ground.

Uhler then reportedly ran out and yelled at the victim before jumping on him, Soriano said, and the two began to fight.

Uhler was found unresponsive when police arrived, and was taken to Somerset Medical Center, where he was found to have suffered from a brain injury after being put into a submission hold, Soriano said.

Once he was released from Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center, Uhler remained non-verbal and bedridden, Soriano said.

Uhler’s father, Russ, has said his son was completely disabled, being fed through a feeding tube and requiring 24/7 care.

The grand jury did not hand down any indictments on the man who allegedly put Uhler in the hold that led to the brain injury.

According to an obituary published on the Bridgewater Funeral Home's website, Uhler planned to attend William Paterson University, beginning in the fall of 2010.

Uhler is survived by his parents, Russell and Joanna Uhler, of Bridgewater; brothers Kirk, Kyle and Dylan; paternal grandmother Claire Uhler, of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania; maternal grandparents Richard and Virginia Ulrich, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visiting hours will be held Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Stonecrest Community Church in Warren. Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Saturday at the same church, with an internment following at Somerset Hills Memorial Park in Basking Ridge.