Lawmakers: Put Lives At Risk For Your 'Stupidity,' You Will Pay, Under Proposed Bill

(New Jersey State Marine Police searched for human victims in the pickup amid a heavy snowstorm on March 1. Credit Karen Wall)

If you do something stupid that puts the lives of first responders at risk, New Jersey’s 10th District legislators want to ensure you pay for it -- all of it.

The bill, scheduled to be introduced on Monday by Sen. James Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and David Wolfe, will allow courts to hold certain offenders responsible for the cost of rescue and recovery operations.

According to the bill, a court would be authorized to impose the expense incurred by a public entity for the rescue and recovery of a person, and the person’s pet or property if applicable, upon a person found to be in violation of certain criminal mischief and motor vehicle operation laws, including criminal mischief and reckless driving, careless driving or driving or operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner.

The measure was drafted in response to the incident March 1 where Andrew L. Mayer of Toms River drove his pickup truck onto the frozen Toms River and did donuts on the ice. His pickup broke through the ice and sank, prompting an emergency search and recovery effort by local emergency responders and the State Police and the U.S. Coast Guard. Mayer has been charged with two indictable offenses in the case.

“The massive emergency rescue mission in Toms River resulted from intentional activity that likely violated the law,” Holzapfel said. “Taxpayers should not have to bear the burden of paying for someone else’s stupidity.”

Mayer, 27, escaped but his pet boxer, Rolo, died when the pickup submerged. Mayer was arraigned Monday in Toms River Municipal Court on charges of criminal mischief, reckless driving, pollution, by state police, and New Jersey SPCA Col. Frank Rizzo charged him with one count of failure to provide proper care by recklessly endangering an animal’s life and the animal dying as a result, a third-degree crime under New Jersey’s animal abuse statutes.

Because of the two indictable offenses, the case has been sent to Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, where a judge can choose to keep the case in Superior Court or send it back to Toms River. The next court date is uncertain. Mayer told Judge Damien G. Murray that he is choosing to represent himself in court.

Third-degree criminal offenses carry a jail sentence of 3 to 5 years, according to New Jersey statutes.

Mayer’s pickup truck was found by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter after a 10-hour search, sitting in about 6 feet of water 100 yards off the shore of Pine Beach. New Jersey State Police Marine Unit personnel searched for possible human victims the area that Sunday in a snowstorm until they were notified that Mayer had turned himself in at Toms River police headquarters.

The pickup truck, with Rolo’s body in it, was removed from the river on Monday morning just before Mayer was arraigned in Toms River.

“The rescue mission in Toms River required the help of state and local police, first aid responders and local firefighters,” McGuckin said. “All of those people were put at risk as a result of the driver’s bad choices. In instances like this, the offender should be required to pay the full cost of the resulting emergency response.”

There are laws in place that allow the Coast Guard to seek restitution in cases of where a vessel distress call turns out to be a hoax, and those penalties can mount into the thousands of dollars. But whether that can be applied in this case is unclear, authorities have said.

“We need to ensure the safety of our police and first responders who work daily to protect and serve our residents and community,” added Assemblyman Wolfe. “A bill like this may make potential offenders think twice before doing something stupid that could put other people’s lives at risk.”

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• Just After Canine’s Body Found, Driver Charged In Dog’s Truck Drowning In Icy Toms River
• Toms River Driver Faces Arraignment In Pickup Sinking In River
• Toms River Pickup Driver Had Repeated Reckless, Careless Driving Citations, But No DWI
• Fundraiser For Dog’s Owner, Man Who Drove Into Icy Toms River Halted
• Dog Owner’s Friend Asks For Money To Retrieve Pickup, Pet’s Body From Icy Toms River
• Toms River Man Charged In Pickup Falling Through Ice, Killing Dog
• Seaside Heights Cop Rips ‘Animal Loving Freaks’ Angry Over Dog’s Death In Icy Toms River
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• Cousin: Toms River Pickup Truck Driver Who Fell Through Ice Tried To Rescue Dog
• Poll: Should Toms River Truck Driver Who Fell Through Ice, Killing Dog, Be Criminally Charged?
• UPDATE: Two Men Identified After Pickup Truck Falls Through Toms River Ice; Dog Dies
• Cops: Man Won’t Be Charged In Pickup Truck Sinking In Toms River, Killing Dog