Powerboat Crash into Gazebo a Saturday Surprise

When local Realtor Ann Schuld's cell phone rang six times in a half hour Saturday night, she first thought the worst.

"I thought someone had died," she said Sunday morning.

It wasn't that bad. Her sister was trying to reach her to tell her a 40-foot powerboat had run off the Toms River, ripped through the family's gazebo and was now resting on an angle in the side yard of her Cove Road home.

Schuld and her husband had gone dancing earlier that evening and weren't home when the accident occurred.

"That's a high-performance boat," said Jerry Hammond, who is vice-president of the Chelsea Civic Association. "It's a Formula cruiser. That's not your regular cruise boat."

Hammond, his wife Yvonne and their two little girls were one of many neighbors who came to see the aftermath of the accident this morning. The Toms River Shores section is a quiet neighborhood off Chelsea Avenue.

New Jersey State Police are conducting an investigation into the accident, which happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. No one was injured in the crash, Berkeley Township Patrolman John Fosbre said last night. The names of the two people on board and the circumstances may be available later on Sunday.

"They didn't even say goodbye," Schuld said of the boat's occupants. "They just went."

The boat sat tilted to one side, roughly about 40 feet from Schuld's home, which overlooks the Toms River.

Employees from Tow Boat U.S. were on the scene Sunday morning, trying to figure out the best way to get the boat out of the yard.

"It's not going to be easy," said Laurie Hurst. "We're not going to do anything today. It's going to take time."

Schuld surveyed the damage to her side yard and sighed.

"The swing might make it," she said, gazing into the crushed gazebo. "I wish they had hit the toolshed. I'd love to get that replaced. The gazebo was fine."

Guy  Capeino and his wife — down for the weekend visiting her father  — were sitting on a porch next door watching the night sky when they heard the collision.

"It actually sounded like it went through the house," he said last night. "It went through the gazebo, then into the weeds. It was roaring up a storm."

The boat's motor was still running and music was blaring after the collision, Capeino said.

"I was trying to find out if everybody was alright," he said. "Then I dialed 911. They actually didn't know where they were. I said, 'You almost drove up on the road.'  At least they were't hurt."

Patch will continue to follow this developing story.