Area Police To Hold 3-Day Fundraiser For Owner of Wunder Wiener

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Sometimes it takes a village to help a community member in need.

That's just what the Berkeley P.B.A. 237 and the Beachwood Pine Beach P.B.A. 253 are teaming up to do when they hold a fundraiser for the owner of Der Wunder Wiener and his family on July 5, July 6 and July 7.

The fundraiser will be held on the spot where the popular business was once located. The business was destroyed last Monday when an SUV left Route 9 in Bayville, took down a utility pole, then plowed into the building and seriously injured Gerry LaCrosse, the owner and a Beachwood councilman.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Police will sell hot dogs and other items similar to what LaCrosse sold in his longtime business in front of the old Beachwood Shopping Center.

LaCrosse has already undergone several surgeries due to the internal bleeding he suffered when he was pinned under the building that was his business and his family's livelihood for more than 30 years.

The last thing his family wants LaCrosse to have to deal with when he recovers is the stress of lost wages, the devastation of his business, the loss of his car and medical expenses. So they have set up a gofundmesite to help, she said.

To make a donation to the site set up on the family's behalf, click here.
As of today, $8,745, of the $15,000 goal has been raised. The fund was just set up last Tuesday night. Please help if you can.

The driver of the SUV, Mark Poplawski, 52, Forked River, suffered minor head and neck injuries and was treated at Community Medical Center in Toms River, after his SUV took down a utility pole, then struck the landmark business on Route 9 South in Bayville on Monday morning.

Poplawski was issued summons for careless driving, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, driving in an unsafe manner, operating a motor vehicle on public lands, and failure to exhibit registration, the report written by Berkeley Patrolman Michael Bulwinski says.

Flier: Courtesy of Berkeley, Beachwood and Pine Beach police