Tunney Bridge on Route 37 Closed for Hours After Man Jumps on Memorial Day Weekend
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June 4, 2022Tunney Bridge on Route 37 Closed for Hours After Man Jumps on Memorial Day Weekend
19 Year Old Has Been Charged
Authorities say a 19-year-old male was rushed to the hospital Sunday night after crashing on Route 37's J. Stanley Tunney Bridge and jumping into the Barnegat Bay.
The male, from Elmwood Park, was pulled from the Barnegat Bay by New Jersey State Marine Police after a confrontation in Seaside Heights, according to authorities. The Tunney Bridge was closed for more than an hour after the incident on May 29, 2022.Seaside Heights police responded to a complaint of a man approaching the caller and asking for a phone at 8:20 p.m. Sunday, according to Seaside Heights Detective Steve Korman.
The man, who had been detained earlier in the day on a disorderly conduct charge in Seaside Heights, told officers he was lost and needed to go to the Flamingo Hotel, according to Korman. Officers drove him there, and the man got into a dispute with his girlfriend. According to Korman, he then went to stay with friends at a separate hotel. The man began grabbing his items from his Fiat, but while doing so, he entered and drove out of the parking lot, colliding with two other vehicles. According to Korman, he then traveled west on Kearney Avenue and north on Central Avenue. As the individual drove west on Harding Avenue, Seaside Heights Patrolman Chris Linnell noticed the Fiat cross across Route 35 north with no lights on, and Linnell came into contact with the Fiat, which was pulled over on the 100 Block of Harding Avenue, according to Korman.Linnell activated his lights and pulled away from the officer after conversing with him, traveling west on Harding and then north on southbound Route 35, according to Korman.
He added that at that point, Seaside Heights police alerted officers in neighboring communities to look for the car. According to Korman, Seaside Heights police did not pursue the car at any point because it constituted a public safety danger.He said Seaside Heights police were contacted a short time later that the individual had crashed on the westbound lanes of the Tunney Bridge.
According to Toms River Police Department spokesperson Jillian Messina, the suspect then leaped off the bridge into the Barnegat Water below, but was apprehended by a New Jersey State Police Marine unit on patrol in the bay. He was taken to Community Medical Center for observation after being brought to land at the base of the Route 37 bridge. Police from Toms River and the New Jersey State Marine Police were dispatched to the scene. According to Korman, the man was facing motor vehicle charges.
