3 New Jersey LEOs Swept Away In Flooding Fired Guns To Signal For Help
LAPPL News Watch
September 3, 2021
The
call was for a vehicle in floodwaters on Route 518 in Hopewell
Township — one of many rescue calls in New Jersey Wednesday evening
as storms from Hurricane Ida flooded the state.
Police Officer James
Hoffman went to check it out. Moments after arriving in the area, east
of Route 31 at about 8:30 p.m., Hoffman turned into a victim. His patrol
car started taking on water, then started floating away — sliding
sideways about 100 yards into deeper water.
Hoffman ditched his bulky
duty vest, climbed through a window and started swimming. He found a
tree and held on.
It got worse, though, Hopewell Township
Police Director Bob Karmazin told NJ Advance Media on Thursday morning.
Two officers who went to assist Hoffman after he made a distress call
— Michael Makwinski and Robert Voorhees — were also swept into the
raging waters and also had to leave their vehicle.
“These two officers
were also swept much like the other,” Karmazin said. They too found
trees to anchor themselves, Karmazin said.
For nearly two hours, as
rescue firefighters arrived from all over Mercer County to help township
firefighters find the officers, the department dreaded the outcome.
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