Ocean Gate Woman in Critical Condition After Accident Near Duck Pond

Frances King often took her German Shepherd Zeba out for a walk near her Ocean Gate home, her daughter said.

Wednesday night was no exception. King was walking along Ocean Gate Drive with her dog when both were struck by a car shortly before 6 p.m.

Zeba was killed and King is in Community Medical Center on a ventilator, said her daughter Donna Howton, who lives in California.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and Ocean Gate Police Chief Reece J. Fisher have not yet released details about the accident.

Howton said her mother suffered broken ribs, a broken leg, was on a ventilator and may require more surgery.

"The police called me about two hours after the accident," she said.

King lived nearby the duck pond. She had raised Zeba as a Seeing Eye dog from puppyhood. The dog developed a skin condition and couldn't be used as a Seeing Eye dog, so King took her back, Howton said.

The accident was reported at 5:57 p.m. in the vicinity of 509 Ocean Gate Drive and the duck pond.

Medivac helicopters were requested to be on standby, but MONOC 1 and Southstar both declined because of adverse weather conditions. It was raining at the time the accident occurred.

Detective Richard Fiocco of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office was still on the scene last night, but declined to give out any information, other than to say the accident was under investigation.

Fiocco was talking to a tow truck operator who had a car on top of the tow truck.

Ocean Gate Drive is off Route 9 in Bayville. The speed limit for the relatively straight portion of the roadway is 40 miles per hour. But the road curves in Ocean Gate approaching the duck pond and the speed limit drops from 40 to 35, then 25 miles per hour by Jeffrey's Creek, which locals call the duck pond.

Berkeley Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.