A woman relaxing on a beach in Wildwood, New Jersey was reportedly run over by a police officer in a freak accident last week.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon, according to the Star-Ledger. Wildwood Police Chief Joseph Murphy told the Atlantic City Press that the incident involved the department's Ford F-150 pickup truck.
Authorities have not released the victim's name, but WPVI-TV, citing the victim's boyfriend, said the victim suffered broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae and lung injuries.
Murphy said the officer driving the pickup truck was responding to a bylaw violation at the time of the crash.
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A woman was reportedly hit by a Wildwood Police Department vehicle last week. (iStock)
“Officers were on scene in the line of duty following a call to the scene,” the police chief said. “Horrifyingly, the officer ran over the victim who was lying on the beach.”
Murphy added that the victim was visiting Wildwood on vacation ahead of Labor Day weekend.
“We had a lot of help from the beach community,” the police chief added. “The beach community did a fantastic job.”
A passerby named Rose Simone told WPVI-TV that when the car struck the woman, other beachgoers immediately began to panic.
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People walk on the beach on the Jersey Shore in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 27, 2021, a few days before Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start of summer. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
“Everybody was yelling, screaming at the guy in the truck, 'Stop! There's someone under the truck! You hit someone!'” the Chalfont, Pennsylvania, resident recalled.
“Some of the guys who were there came over and said they needed to lift the front of the truck to get her out,” Simone continued.
Simone told the Star-Ledger that she recognized the woman before the incident, who was wearing dark clothing and lying on a beach towel.
“It was clearly an accident, but it was probably an accident that was avoidable,” she added.
The victim is expected to survive.
: A couple embraces on the beach on May 30, 2022 in Wildwood, New Jersey. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Wildwood Police Department for more information.
