Off-Duty Officer, Samaritans Save Man's Life After Toms River Crash

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An off-duty police officer and several Good Samaritans helped to save the life of a driver who apparently suffered a medical episode before crashing into multiple traffic signals on Route 37 Saturday, police said.

Ryan Stack, a Seaside Park police officer who was off-duty, and the Good Samaritans broke the window to get Horst Szczypinski out of the vehicle following the crash, which happened about 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of Route 37 and Hooper Avenue, said Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department.

Stack and the Samaritans started CPR on Szczypinski, 78, of South Toms River, before Toms River police officers arrived with oxygen and a defibrillator and took over CPR, Messin said. The efforts restored Szczypinski's pulse, and he was alert and talking to medics when he was taken to Community Medical Center, she said.

Szczypinski was in the left lane headed west on Route 37 when his car ran off the road and up onto the median and hitting and bringing down light stanchions before coming to a stop in the intersection, Messina said.

The damage to the traffic signals closed the intersection for several hours.

The state Department of Transportation responded to repair the traffic signals, she said, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department assisted.

Traffic Safety Officer Adam Koeppen is investigating.