Woman run over by cop as she sunbathed at New Jersey beach

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A sunbather on a New Jersey beach was run over by a police officer in a pickup truck.

The officer from the Wildwood Police Department, who has not been identified, was responding to a call on Aug. 28 at about 3:30 p.m. when he ran over the torso of the woman, who was laying on a towel on  Wildwood beach, Police Chief Joseph Murray told the Press of Atlantic City.

“Everybody was gathering around screaming, yelling at the person in the truck, “Stop! There’s somebody under your truck! You hit somebody!” onlooker Rose Simone told WPVI.

Bystanders immediately ran to the victim, with some trying to lift the front end of the truck off the pinned-down woman while others dug away at the sand, the outlet reported.

“They were the ones who sprung into action,” Simone said.

She said the woman had been wearing dark-coloured clothing and sitting on the towel with a man before the incident.

He was swimming when the truck ran her over.

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“The Wildwood police officer ran this lady over on the beach while he was swerving in and out of the beach, way too close,” witness Ryan Cortes, told Wildwood Video Archive.

“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,” he continued.

“No one understands why the cop was driving in a crowded beach so close to where everyone was!”

Simone added, “It was an accident clearly. But one that probably could have been avoided.”

The victim suffered multiple broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae and a lung injury, the woman’s boyfriend told WPVI.

The police department’s internal affairs bureau would be looking into the incident.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano called it an “unfortunate situation,” and the investigation is ongoing.