Howell Officer Crash Report 'False;' PD Blasts Outlet's Tweet

HOWELL, NJ — Howell Township police had harsh words for a local media outlet following a social media posting that implied a Howell officer had been involved in a serious car accident Tuesday morning.

In a tweet shortly before 9 a.m., the Lakewood Scoop reported that it had reports of a Howell Township police officer involved in a serious accident.

Howell police, reached by email, said there had been no accidents involving township police Tuesday morning.

In a post on Facebook, police blasted the Lakewood Scoop report.

"False reports such as these cause panic to families of the officers who are working," the post said. "Completely irresponsible for the Lakewood Scoop to make such a report."

The Lakewood Scoop defended its actions in a followup tweet, saying it had received the information from an emergency responder: "We received this report at 8:45 AM from an emergency responder: 'MVA on Allaire Rd head on Chevy avalanche vs HTPD suv... HTPD car was on top of that truck'."

Later in the afternoon, the Lakewood Scoop tweeted a further rebuttal: "Quite ironic for a police department to call a media report fake, when in fact the information came from an official within their Township."

Photo via Howell Police