More charges filed in Alexis Cohen's death

TOMS RIVER, N.J., July 28 (UPI) -- Additional charges have been filed against the man who allegedly hit and killed "American Idol" hopeful Alexis Cohen with his car, officials in New Jersey said.

Cohen, 25, died early Saturday in the Jersey shore town of Seaside Heights. Her claim to fame was a pair of unsuccessful, though much-talked-about, auditions for the popular television singing competition show.

Daniel Bark, a 23-year-old grocery store deli clerk, was arrested Sunday evening at his job and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

The Asbury Park Press quoted his lawyer David Glassman as saying he is on suicide watch at the Ocean County Jail because he is so upset about the situation.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said her office has filed against Bark the additional charges of aggravated manslaughter by causing the death of another while fleeing from law enforcement officers, vehicular homicide and eluding police, the Press said.

Ford told reporters at a news conference Bark allegedly hit Cohen while fleeing from police officers on bicycles after he hit a parked car in a nightclub lot. He was later stopped by Seaside Heights police and issued several summonses, including one for driving under the influence, before his alleged connection to Cohen's death was discovered, the newspaper said.