Sunbathing woman run over by police left with 'truly horrible' injuries after chaotic beach incident
The woman was lying on a towel on the beach in New Jersey, when she was run over by an on-duty cop in a pickup truck who was reportedly responding to an ordinance violation
A police officer responding to a call about an "ordinance violation" at a crowded beach is said to have mowed down a sunbather with his car, in a chaotic incident that left one woman with "truly horrible" injuries. Still in a serious condition in hospital, the victim is said to have sustained serious damage to her lungs, as well as three fractured vertebrae, and multiple broken ribs.
The on-duty cop is reported to have driven his large service vehicle onto a crowded New Jersey beach, Wednesday, while a woman was lying on a towel enjoying the mid-afternoon sun, around 3.30pm. Beachgoers described screaming at the officer to stop, but then the front end of his Ford F-150 police pickup went right over her.
Eyewitnesses described a frantic rush to aid the woman, with several people lifting the front end of the pickup truck off her. "People were just screaming, 'You hit somebody! Somebody's under your truck! Stop! '" said Rose Simone, who was visiting from Pennsylvania.
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Despite the commotion, Simone noted that she didn't hear the vehicle approach until it was too late. Another witness, Ryan Cortes, recounted the harrowing moments following the collision.
"The police officer ran this lady over on the beach while he was swerving in and out of the beach, way too close. Citizens nearby had to scream at the truck to stop, and they had to gather to lift the vehicle off of the woman's torso-it was truly horrible," Cortes explained.
In a remarkable display of quick thinking and teamwork, beachgoers came together in an urgent attempt to lift a police car off a woman who had been struck.
"The woman appeared to be moving, but she seemed to be severely injured, as you can imagine," Cortes recounted. The victim, whose identity remains undisclosed, sustained lung damage, three fractured vertebrae, and multiple broken ribs among other serious injuries.
Despite the severity of her injuries, emergency services managed to get her off the beach, and she is expected to survive. The towns Police Chief, Joseph Murphy, confirmed the incident, noting that the officer involved was on routine beach patrol duty.
The chief disclosed that the department's internal affairs and an accident reconstruction specialist are investigating the crash, though neither the officer nor the injured woman has been named. As of Saturday, there had been limited information released by both the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and the Wildwood Police Department.
Mayor Ernie Troiano described the event as an "unfortunate situation" and assured that a comprehensive investigation is ongoing.
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